


Fireworks

by davekats



Category: Super 8 (2011)
Genre: Drama, F/M, OC, Romance, Shitty Writing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-16
Updated: 2013-03-16
Packaged: 2017-12-05 12:32:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 24,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/723346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/davekats/pseuds/davekats
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a new girl in town... Cary feels a need to protect her, and it's not going to be easy... After all, she has a secret, and it might just destroy her...</p><p>(reupload from fanfiction 2012 or something, this is a shitty story that im only keeping up for posterity)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introductions and Spilled Ice Cream

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone. This is an old Super 8 fanfiction that I wrote near the time "Super 8" first came out. I had it originally on Fanfiction.net, but it was taken down around last year, for some obscure reason. Fanfiction.net admins are fuckin WEIRD.
> 
> On another note, I decided to rewrite it, so I'm leaving the old version here just in case anyone wants it.

Fireworks~*~

~*~Chapter 1-Introductions, and Spilled Ice Cream~*~

Joe, Alice, Charles, Martin, Preston, and Cary were walking down the street to Carol's Diner. Cary was chewing on Twizzlers, while making a thoughtful face. After five minutes, he finished the pack, and said,"Chaaaarles, can you buy me an iiiiice creeeam!"

"No. Shut up." Charles replied.

Cary repeated, "Charles, can you buy me an iiiice creaaaam!"

"I said, NO. SHUT UP."

"Chaaaarles, can you buy me an iiiiice creeeam!"

"NO! I'VE ALREADY BOUGHT YOU THREE LARGE PACKS OF TWIZZLERS! YOU DON'T NEED ANY MORE SUGAR!" Charles screamed.

Cary's whining stopped, as he said with a straight face, "If you don't get me an ice cream I'll set your freaking camera on fire, and then tear all of your film up and roll around in it. WHILE LAUGHING. Like a maniac. So you better get me an ice cream. NOW."

Charles sighed. "Cary, why in the world do all of your threats involve you destroying my camera and laughing? Honestly, I thought you would've had a bigger imagination, you being a pyro, and all..."

Cary shrugged and said, "Well, you seem to highly value your camera, but if not, I can insult your mom, or blow up your house..."

Charles shook his head, "You know what, never mind. Here's five dollars. Go rot your teeth out, brace-face."

Ignoring the insult, Cary's face broke into a grin, as he grabbed the money and started skipping ahead. Charles started to massage his forehead as he started muttering about how he was going to strangle Cary one day, as Joe, Alice and Preston started teasing him about how he was the only one who ever had to give Cary money. They all started laughing, and almost ran into Cary, who had stopped skipping, and was standing, staring incredulously at the inside of the diner. "What the hell Cary! Just go buy your ice cream!" Charles said irritably. "What? What are you looking at?"

Cary's eyes were the size of plates, as he said, "Guys, look."

They all leaned over next to Cary and froze, as their eyes took the last thing they ever would have expected. At one of the tables, there was a girl, just sitting there, calmly eating an ice cream.

"Son of a-" Charles started to say, before Cary slapped him in the face.

"WHAT THE HELL CARY!" He yelled.

"What?" Cary asked, innocently.

"You slapped me in my freaking FACE Cary, I have a right to know why." Charles said, still mad.

Cary rolled his eyes, "BECAUSE, she could have heard you!"

Charles shrugged, "So...?"

Cary shook his head, "You are officially HOPELESS with girls."

"Says the guy who can't get one!" piped Martin.

Scowling, Cary whirled around and said, "Shut up Smartin, you only get girls because of your leg!"

"At least he gets girls, unlike a certain short blonde I happen to know..." Charles said, looking away.

"Could you all please just SHUT UP! It's kind of awkward standing here, listening to all of you talking about girls, when I'm a girl. OBVIOUSLY." Alice said irritably.

"Sorry Alice..." Cary, Charles, and Martin mumbled.

Alice sniffed, "That's what I thought. Now, are any of you going to go in there and talk to the poor girl, or am I going to have to pick one of you myself?"

"A-Alice? You aren't going to make me go in there, are you?" Joe stuttered.

Alice pretended not to hear him, and said, "So. Since none of you seem to want to step up and be a man, I'm going to choose for myself. Cary, since you were the one who saw her first, you get the honor."

Behind her, Joe let out a relieved sigh, as Cary's eyes widened, "Alice? No way!"

"Get stepping. Before I make you." Alice said, emotionlessly.

"Yeah, like you of all people is going to ma-" Cary was cut off, as Alice hopped forward, and pushed him roughly into the diner.

CRASH~~~~~

-went the diner doors, as a certain blonde boy busted through them, drawing the attention of a girl sitting at one of the tables. Startled, she dropped her ice cream cone onto the table, and after staring solemnly at the mess for a few seconds, sighed, got up, and made her way over to Cary, who was still lying on the ground, groaning. "Umm, hello?" she said.

"WHAT DO YOU WAAANT!" Cary wailed.

"Well, sorry to bother you," she said sarcastically, "but when you made your big entrance, you fell pretty hard, and you looked pretty hurt."

Cary sat up, and rubbing his head, said, "Well, getting pushed through a door and landing on your face can do that to someone, believe it or not! Who the hell are you anyway?"

The girl blinked, and said, "Oh, sorry, I'm Azalea. I just moved here from California."

Now it was Cary's turn to blink, "California? If you're from there, then why'd you move here?"

Azalea cocked her head, "What's wrong with here?" She asked.

"Nothing," Cary replied, "It's just... California... Wow."

"What?" Azalea asked.

"Nothing!" Cary said defensively.

Azalea made a confused face, and said, "Umm, okay then, I guess... So, now that I have no idea what to say next, I'm just going to leav- OH NO, WAIT!" She suddenly screamed.

Cary jumped, "OH MY GOD WOMAN! CALM YOURSELF!"

Azalea laughed, "Oh sorry, I just remembered something..."

"Well, what is is?" Cary asked impatiently.

"Are you sure you want to know?" Azalea said, looking at him carefully.

"Yes. Tell me." Cary said.

"Are you sure?" Azalea asked, smiling.

"YES! NOW JUST TELL ME ALREADY!" Cary exclaimed.

Azalea blinked. "Well fine, you don't have to yell!"

Cary blinked and asked incredulously, "But you were-"

"OKAY!" Azalea yelled. "Secret time!"

"Finally..." Cary muttered.

Azalea leaned in closer to Cary. "The secret... is... that... YOU OWE ME TWO DOLLARS!" she screamed suddenly into his ear.

Cary jumped, "Firstly, ow. Second, how, in the world do I owe you two dollars? I just met you for crying out loud!"

Azalea made a face, and said as if explaining to an idiot, "When you busted in earlier, you startled me, and made me drop my ice cream!"

Cary shook his head and laughed, "You know what, I give up. You are probably one of the most confusing people who I've ever met."

Azalea crossed her arms, "I really couldn't care less, as long as you pay me."

"Well, dream on sister, I ain't paying you!" Cary said, walking away, to the doors.

Azalea raised an eyebrow, laughed, and said, almost as if to herself, "Too late..."

Cary POV:

I walked out of the diner, and my friends rushed over to me. "So?" Preston asked, "What happened?"

"After Alice pushed me inside, I landed on my face, and she came over, and we just started talking." I replied, "Nothing special."

"What's her name?" Charles asked, as I took out my lighter and absentmindedly flicked it on and off.

"Azalea. Like the flower. Royalty of the garden." I said, not thinking.

"Since when do you of all people read flower catalogues?" Preston said.

"Shut UP Math Camp, I don't!" I snapped back, feeling my cheeks heat up. (I was actually thinking about how I forgot to tell Azalea my name, and what hers meant.)

"Then why are you blushing?" Alice said, smiling.

"I am not blushing! Drop it!" I snapped again.

"Whoa, calm down flower boy, don't get your petals in a twist! Anyway, what did she look like?" Charles asked.

Scowling from the flower comment, I answered hotly, "She's right there, see for yourself! Stop being lazy! Maybe that's why you're such a fatass!"

As all the other boys (and Alice) turned to look through the window, I did too, and actually took her in. She had medium length wavy dark brown hair, and hazel eyes. She was about the same height as me. She kind of giggled to herself, (when she smiled, I noticed she had a dimple) and got up and walked to the counter. She smirked, as she took out a familiar looking wallet, and took out two dollars from it. She paid the cashier, and after a few seconds, went back to her table holding a vanilla ice cream. As she started eating, I didn't notice everyone had turned away from the window, and were watching me, watching Azalea. "Hey. If you're done stalking her, we have to tell you something!" Preston said.

"I'm not stalking her!" I protested.

"Then what are you doing?" Preston asked.

"Watching her... eating... ice cream?" I winced.

"As if that's not stalking. Anyway, did you see-" Preston began, before he was cut off by the door opening.

"Hello?" I heard Azalea say.

"Um, hi?" We all said.

Azalea came out and walked over to us. "Oh, there you are. No offense, but you guys kind of looked like stalkers, when you were staring at me through the window. Especially you-" she stopped and pointed at me, "Wait, what's your name? You never said."

"M-me? Oh, I'm Cary." I stuttered.

"Cary. Yeah. When you were watching me eating ice cream, you were REALLY creeping me out." Azalea continued.

"Oh. Sorry." I apologized.

Azalea looked at her watch, "Okay, gotta go. I guess I'll see you around? Well, when you stop stalking me of course."

"Yeah," I said, "See you Azalea."

"Bye Cary." She said, starting to walk away. "Oh, wait, hold on, before I forget, here." She dug in her pocket for a second, then tossed something at me. After I caught it, I suddenly realized...it was my wallet!

"Thanks for the ice cream!" She said, winking at me.

"YOU PICKED MY POCKET?" I cried.

"Oh yeah, I also took about fifty cents in change, but I know you don't mind, do you Cary! After all, you have like seven more dollars!" She said, grinning. "Bye!"

I just stood there in shock, and disbelief. I vaguely heard Alice and Preston laughing at me, but I just couldn't believe that I had had my pocket picked! After a moment, Charles spoke up. "So, Cary, since you have so much money in your wallet, can I have my five bucks back?"


	2. Reflections and New Friends

~*~Fireworks~*~  
~*~Chapter 2- Reflections, and New Friends~*~

Azalea POV:

I walked away from the boys feeling a lot less confident than I had looked. I may have looked calm, and collected, but inside, I was far from feeling that way. I felt confused. I still didn’t know what to think of the town! I had moved here from California in the middle of summer, without getting to say goodbye to any of my friends. I didn’t really care about my friends that much though, what I really missed were the familiar surroundings. The small, comfy, coffee shop on the corner. The large, comfy armchairs in the library. And most of all, my old room. My old room may not have been huge, but it was interesting enough. A dresser, next to a desk, which was in turn, next to my bed. Then, all my little tables and shelves covered with random knickknacks. And most of all, the tall bookshelves, with hundreds of books. I loved books. I have so many that I had to keep most of them under my bed, when my shelves ran out of room. Then, my stereo. With all my cds, all of my music. I loved music, more than anything, even more than books. My favorite genres were rock and alternative. Strangely, I found comfort in the loud and strange chords, but my all-time favorite song was “My Sharona”, by The Knack. 

I started humming the song, and realized that while I had been thinking, I hadn’t been paying attention to my surroundings. I looked up, hearing a cricket chirp, and saw the sun setting. Panicking, I looked around, and saw an unfamiliar street. I started walking faster, and ended up even more confused than before. Thinking fast, I tried to remember my street’s name. Only able to remember the name of the diner I was at before, I started taking deep breaths to calm myself, and saw a girl walking down the street. I walked up to her and asked, “Um, hello, do you know where Carol’s Diner is?”

She looked at me carefully. She had short brown hair, and light blue eyes. “Um, yes, I’ll show you the way, if you like...”

I gave a relieved sigh, “Thanks, I got really lost.”

She laughed and said, “No problem! By the way, I’m Nichole! I haven’t seen you around here before have I?”

“No,” I replied, “I just moved here yesterday.”

“Cool!” she said, starting to walk, “Just follow me.”

I followed her. “Earlier... I was at the diner, and met these six people, then started to take a walk, and got lost... So, that’s kinda how I got here...” I said.

“Oh my goodness gracious! You met the Super Six!” Nichole cried excitedly.

“The Super Six?” I asked.

“Oh, they’re like our town heroes!” She squealed excitedly.

“What did they do?” I asked, now curious.

“A few months ago, this Air Force train crashed, and an alien escaped. It terrorized the town, but they found a way to send it home.”

“So, what exactly did they do?” I pressed further.

Nichole made a thoughtful face, “Well, one night, the Air Force evacuated the town, to try and catch the alien, and four of the Super Six went to find it, because it had abducted Alice. On the way, Martin got hit, and his leg was fractured so Charles had to help him. Then, it was only Cary and Jo-” 

I interrupted, “Cary?”

“Yes, Cary. He’s the pyromaniac of the group. He’s obsessed with explosives, and he’s a little irritating.”

“Are you sure?” I said disbelievingly.

“Yeah, why?” she asked.

I fidgeted a little, “Well, I met him earlier, and he didn’t exactly come across as irritating...”

Nichole squealed happily, “Oh my goodness gracious! You’re defending him!! Now I’m not the only one in town with an unrequited crush on one of them!!”

“Unrequited crush? Wait, what? I don’t have a crush on him, I just met him! Wait, who do you have a crush on?” I asked.

Nichole blushed, “I guess I kind of like Preston...”

I blinked, “Preston? Who’s that?”

She scowled, “I really hate, how nobody knows who he is! I mean... Oh, wait, look!”

I looked to where her finger was pointing, and I saw Cary walking across the street.

“HEY! CARY!” Nichole screamed, then looked at me, “So, I guess since Cary’s here, I can leave. He’ll show you home, and you can see how annoying he is!” 

Before I could protest, she had ran to meet Cary, and after explaining what she wanted him to do, winked at me, and started running back the way she had come.

Cary POV:

I was walking home, when suddenly a girl screamed my name. I didn’t really know her that well, but as she ran over, I remembered who she was. Before Charles, Joe, Alice, Martin, Preston and I had known each other, she had been Preston’s best friend! After we had all met, he had ditched her to hang out with us! Her name was...

“Nichole, hey.” I said, “What’s up?”

“Could you walk Azalea here home?” She asked, ignoring my question.

“Azalea? Sure.” I said, looking over her shoulder, at Azalea, who was standing there, looking at her feet.

“Great.” Nichole said, promptly turning around and running back.

I blinked, and walked over to Azalea who still hadn’t looked at me. “Hey.” I said, looking at her carefully.

“Hey...” She replied to me.

“Um, I guess I’m supposed to take you home, right?” I asked, as she nodded, “Then, where do you live?”

She looked up at me, smirked and said, “You stalker.”

I laughed, and said, teasing, “Yes, I’m going to follow you home and watch you sleep.”

She laughed, and I smiled. I didn’t know what it was about Azalea, but just being around her made me smile. She shivered, and I looked at her clothing. She was wearing a thin-looking red sweater, over a white shirt, with blue capris, and silver flats. Since she looked pretty cold, I took off my jacket, and held it out, “You’re cold.” I stated.

“No, it’s yours, I’m fine, you’ll be cold...” She protested.

Ignoring her, I threw my jacket at her. “I’ll be fine. You wear it.” In reality, I was cold, but for some reason I felt the need to keep her safe, which included keeping her warm.

Scowling, she put on my jacket. “I would’ve been fine!”

I laughed, “Sure, whatever you say...”  
After a few awkward seconds, Azalea spoke up, “So, can we leave now?”

“Oh, yeah, sorry...” I said, blushing.

She laughed, “It’s okay!”

“So, you live near Carol’s, right?” I asked.

“Yeah, I think on Almond Street...” She said, making a thoughtful face.

“Great. Let’s go!” I said, offering my arm to her.

She looked at my arm for a few seconds and raised an eyebrow, “You can’t be serious.”

“What if I was?” I teased.

She stared at me for a few seconds, and I had just begun to lower my arm, when suddenly a large crash sounded, and Azalea suddenly jumped behind me, holding onto my shoulders. “Can we go now?”

“Yeah, come on, let’s hurry, it’s getting dark...” I said, feeling uneasy about the noise we had just heard.

We started walking, Azalea clutching my arm tightly, while casting frightened looks around, at the shadows. “Cary, I’m scared...” She said, shaking.

“It’s okay, we’ll make it.” I reassured her, walking faster.

We continued that way for about three more blocks, before coming across the familiar sign for Carol’s. It was about 8:24 pm, and after we got to the diner, we sat down on a bench, and panted. “Azalea, are you okay?” I asked worriedly.

She looked at me and lightly blushed, “Yeah, what about you?”

Laughing, I replied, “Yeah. Nothing’s more fun than running through the shadows at eight at night, right?”

Azalea groaned, “Oh God, don’t remind me of that...”

I glanced at my watch again, 8:31. “You ready to go home?” 

She looked a little sad for a second, but said, “Oh, yeah.”

“Sorry for taking so long to get you home,” I apologized.

“Oh, it’s fine, my parents aren’t even home right now anyway!” She said brightly.

“WHAT!” I cried, “I just spent at least half a freaking hour trying to get you home, and your parents aren’t even there to care!”

She looked offended and said, “Well, you never asked...”

Shaking my head, I just stood there, “I can’t believe you...”

She laughed, “Sorry, I would have done the same thing anyway, since I don’t know my way around here!”

“It’s okay,” I laughed, “Anyway, shouldn’t you be getting home?”

“Oh, yeah...” She said.

Suddenly I had a crazy idea, “Wait! Since my parents are out of town too, do you want to have dinner together?”

Azalea’s eyes widened as she blushed, “Um, s-sorry Cary, but I have to, u-um, set up my room! See you t-tomorrow!”

As she ran to her house, I sighed. I didn’t even know why I’d asked her. I didn’t even know much about her, other then the fact that I felt a need to protect her, and that she was, in my opinion anyway, the cutest girl I’d ever seen. I sighed, and started walking home. After all, I had some homemade firecrackers that needed to be finished.

Azalea POV:

After I ran in my house and upstairs to my room, I threw myself on my bed and buried my face in my pillow, blushing. I couldn't stop thinking about what Cary had said... “Wait! Since my parents are out of town too, do you want to have dinner together?” Thinking about how silly he looked then, brought a smile to my face. Thankfully I stopped myself before I started to giggle. I couldn’t believe he had asked me that... But then, I felt regretful, as I realized that , maybe, I actually wanted to have dinner with Cary! I stopped myself, no, I just met him, I couldn’t possibly like him already! 

I started yawning, and as I stretched my arms in front of me, I realized that I was still wearing Cary’s jacket. I took it off and carefully laid it on my bed. I would give it to him tomorrow. As I started to change, I heard a faint clang, and a muffled curse, and went to my window to investigate. As I squinted my eyes, I could just barely make out the figure of a short, blonde boy, rubbing his foot, which he seemed to have hit against the lamppost. I giggled, and saw him start to turn around. He saw me, and I waved at him. He started to blush, and quickly turned around and started walking again. I smiled.


	3. Fights, and Dangerous Choices (Part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do you guys see why I'm rewriting this yet?

~*~Fireworks~*~  
~*~Chapter 3- Fights, and Dangerous Choices (Part 1)~*~

Cary POV:

That night I got home late. My parents were still out of town for some convention, so I just went to the fridge and got a tub of mint-chocolate-chip ice cream. I sat down at the table eating out of the tub, and thinking about Azalea, something I seemed to be doing a lot of today. I shook my head, and winced. Brain freeze. I went up to my room after finishing the ice cream, and went to my desk. I took out a key that I had around my neck, and unlocked one of the drawers, which held all of my explosives. At least, the ones that couldn’t fit in my backpack.

I took out a sparkler, lit it with my lighter, and put it in a special holder I had made. I put it next to my bed, as I got ready to sleep. After, I laid in bed, watching the sparkler, and fell asleep, dreaming of silver, blue, and white lights.

Azalea POV:

I woke up the next morning to birds singing. As I groggily got out of bed to look outside, I heard something fall off my bed softly. When I looked, I saw that it was Cary’s jacket. I picked it up, and put it back on my bed. When I looked at the clock, I saw the time, and my eyes widened. It was almost 1:34 pm! I ran into the bathroom and took a quick shower, and afterwards, brushed my hair, until I was able to comb through it with my fingers. I chose black jeans, and a tight black shirt, with white graffiti on it, and put a headband with a black sequined bow on it. I looked at myself in the mirror and smiled, black was a pretty good color on me. Not as good as green did, though, I thought. Where did that come from? I frowned. Ignoring the small voice nagging me to think about that random thought, I started down the stairs.

I grabbed my keys off the tray next to the door, and clipped them to my belt. As I walked outside, I heard the bells on my voodoo doll key chain jingle, and I smiled. I felt like I was back in California. Confident, calm, and with an edge. Of course, that all changed when I looked around and saw an old lady walking her dog. My face fell, and I sighed. If I had been back home, that old lady would have been my best friend, Kelly, walking towards me smirking, and saying, “God Azalea, what took you so long!” I sighed again, and the old lady looked at me. “Well, you seem sad. In my opinion, you should take that outfit off. All that black is affecting your attitude.” My mouth fell open. At least the stereotyping was the same as California. I shook my head, and walked down the street.

I decided to actually pay attention today, so I wouldn’t get lost again. After I got bored looking at all the houses, I decided to go to the diner. As I got closer to the eatery/ ice cream parlor, I heard muffled yelling. I looked through the window as I got closer and saw Cary and a... well, kind of ...chubby boy yelling at each other.

Cary POV:

I went to the diner to meet up with the gang, (and yes, to possibly run into Azalea) and saw Charles with his hair slicked back, and a confident look on his face. “What’s the occasion fatty?” I cooly said, as I slid into the booth across from him, next to Preston, and laid my backpack on the floor.

“Don’t call me that Cary!” Charles said, the confident look disappearing, to be replaced with a scowl.

“Why not, after all, I’m just stating a fact.” I retorted, smirking.

Surprisingly, Charles seemed to take it harder than usual, and stood up, slamming his palms on the table, making the cups rattle. “You know what, Cary? I’ve just about had it up to here, with your little jokes.” When he said here, he raised his hand his hand until it was level with his head.

“God Charles, now you’re starting to sound like my mom!” I smirked, leaning back. I looked calm, but inside, I was a little nervous. I had never seen Charles get this mad before.

“What, is your problem Cary! Don’t you have any respect for anyone! There is something seriously wrong with you! I mean, I don’t even know why I can still bear to talk to you!” Charles screamed in my face.

“Whoa, back off man, take a chill pill or something! No, why don’t you go eat a doughnut. After all, we all know you dream about them.” I said, rudely.

If I had been smarter, I wouldn’t have said that. I should’ve backed off, and apologized. Instead, of apologizing and cooling Charles down, I insulted him, again. And by insulting him, I had crossed an invisible line. Charles grabbed the front of my shirt, and started shaking me, all the while saying unintelligible threats and insults. I clenched my teeth, and pushed Charles away, hissing through my teeth, “Don’t you dare put your meaty mitts on me, you disgusting, bloodthirsty, MENACE!”

After a few seconds of heated silence, Charles and I slowly got out of the booth, and faced each other in the middle of the diner, next to the counter, showdown style, I noticed, smiling to myself.

“What are you laughing at now!” Charles growled at me.

“Nothing worth telling you,” I smirked meanly at him, “You wouldn’t be able to understand it. You know, they say that sometimes, people with big heads, have very, very small brains. Perhaps you’re one of those...” 

That was it. Charles seemed to snap, and any sense he may have had, simply evaporated. He pushed me down to the ground, hard. After getting up, I calmly brushed myself off, and walked to my backpack. I unzipped the pocket that held my most dangerous explosives. And by dangerous, I mean, life-threatening. I didn’t care what happened to Charles. Frankly, I didn’t give a damn. All I wanted, was to get him OUT, of my life. I took out my lighter, and the explosives, and heard Joe gasp, seeing the explosives I’d chosen. “Cary... Please, think about what you’re doing... Do you really want to hurt him that much?” Joe pleaded with me. I didn’t look at him. If I had, I probably wouldv’e backed out. So I didn’t. I ignored all their pleas, finally getting up, explosives in one hand, lighter in the other. I smiled darkly, saying, “Goodbye, Charlie-boy.”

 


	4. Fights, and Dangerous Choices (Part 2)

~*~Fireworks~*~  
~*~Chapter 4- Fights, and Dangerous Choices (Part 2)~*~

Flashback~~~

I ignored all their pleas, finally getting up, explosives in one hand, lighter in the other. I smiled darkly, saying, “Goodbye, Charlie-boy.”

Azalea POV:

I watched the fight from outside, from Cary and Charles in the booth, to Cary and Charles standing, to Charles pushing Cary, to Cary holding the explosives. I watched, as Cary flicked his lighter on, and brought the flame closer, and closer, to the wick of the explosives, all the while smiling like a lunatic. I looked at the booth, and saw one of the boys looking at me. I watched as his mouth moved, and his lips formed a word. Please. I nodded to show that I understood, and ran to the diner entrance, throwing the doors open, and started to run towards Cary, kind of like they do in movies. However, after I thought that, I seemed to jinx myself, and of course, I tripped and fell flat on my face. I looked up and saw everyone looking at me. “Umm, I totally meant to do that.” 

I looked at Cary, and saw him making a confused expression. The explosives were about an inch apart. I got up, and walked, this time, to him. I gently took the explosives out of his hand. “I’m just going to be taking these away from you now, so if you don’t mind...”

After I took the explosives from him, he fell to his knees. I went to go put the explosives away, and heard the fat kid saying, “That’s right, cry. That’s what you get.”

I whirled around and gave him my death glare, abruptly silencing any future taunts from his mouth. I went back to Cary, and saw tears dripping down his face. “Oh. My. God. I’m so sorry about taking your explosives! I didn’t think you’d mind! Oh my God, you’re still crying!” I quickly stammered.

Cary looked at me and wiping his face, smiled, “No, it’s not your fault, I’m just in shock. A lot of shock.”

The fat kid spoke up, “Well, good! Serves you right!”

I glared at him again, “Will you please, just, shut UP!” 

He fell silent again, and I went to try to put the explosives away again. I opened his backpack. “Oh. My. God. How many explosives do you have in here!”

I heard him say from where he was kneeling, “Oh, um, I don’t know off the top of my head, but I’d have to say... I think, fifty?”

I shook my head. “I thought Nichole was joking when she called you a pyro...”

“Nope!” Cary cheerfully said, “I’m a pyromaniac, and proud of it!”

I laughed and shook my head. “I can’t believe you...”

“Well, sorry! I can’t help it! I was born this way!” Cary said.

I laughed and shook my head as I heard him singing the Lady Gaga song from behind me. I sifted through his bag, and was amazed by the sheer amount of explosives that could be fit in a backpack. I felt someones hand cover mine, and move it gently out of the way. “Let me do it.” Cary said, reaching around me. I felt myself start to blush and I started to get out of the way. “No, it’s fine.” he said, finishing the job that it had taken me so far, seven minutes to start, and finishing it in only a few seconds. He moved over, and we solemnly looked at each other for a few seconds, then burst out laughing.

“Why, are, we, laughing!” I said, gasping.

“I HAVE NO IDEA!” Cary screamed.

All of a sudden, we both stopped, and looked everyone at the booth, who were staring at us, and then at each other again. After looking at each other, we started laughing. Again.

Cary POV:

After Azalea and I had finally stopped laughing, I got up and cleared my throat, and tried to straighten my face, which kept on twisting into a goofy smile. After I finally succeeded, I turned to Azalea. “So, ahem, these are my friends. This is Joe, Alice, Martin, and Preston-”

She cut me off, “Preston? Oh, Nichole’s friend?”

I smirked as Preston went red. “Nichole... And I, aren’t really on... Speaking terms, at the moment...”

Azalea went red too, “Oh, sorry... She just, talked about you... So I assumed-”

Preston’s eyes widened, “She talked about me! What did she say!”

Azalea made a thoughtful face, “Well... She said that-”

I interrupted. “Hello! I’m still here!”

Preston made a serious face and said to Azalea, “You will tell me, everything. Later.”

Azalea gave him a mock salute, and said teasingly, “Got it captain!”

I rolled my eyes, “Anyway, as I was saying, that’s Preston, or Math Camp, as he loves to be called, and also, Martin simply adores being called Smartin.”

I heard Preston protest, as Martin whined, “I do not, Cary! I told you to stop calling me that!”

She laughed, and I couldn’t help but smile. Then, I remembered something unpleasant, “Oh, and the fat kid over there is Charles.”

She sneered at him, “Oh, that’s your name, is it?”

He smirked at her, “Yeah, got a problem?”

She smiled demurely, “Actually, yes. However, not with your name, but with you.”

He sneered at her, “Well that’s just great, but I really don’t care.” He started walking away from Azalea with his hands in his pockets. I looked at Azalea, and when she saw Charles turn away from her, I saw a temporary flash of insanity in her eyes. Uh-oh. I actually kind of pity Charles now, and that’s really bad, considering that I tried to kill him earlier.

“Charles. Heeey, Charles!” Azalea said, coming behind him, pulling her fist back.

As Charles started to turn around, I saw Martin cover his eyes, and I smirked. Charles turned around and saw Azalea. “What the-” 

That’s all that he got out before Azalea slammed her fist into his eye. As he brought his hands to his eye, she punched him in the stomach. Then, as he bent down, groaning, she kneed him in the face. His head flew up, and she roundhouse kicked him in the stomach. He fell to the floor, and she turned around, smiling, and said, “Ice cream anyone?”

Azalea POV:

“Ice cream anyone?” I said, smiling. I looked around the room and saw everyone looking at me. The tall kid, Martin, had his hands over his eyes and was shaking, Joe, Alice, and Preston were sitting there with their mouths open, and Cary was standing there, surprisingly, grinning from ear to ear. He started clapping, slowly, and I smirked and bowed, like I had just performed a piano piece, rather than beat the crap out of someone. I started walking towards Cary, when I felt something grab my ankle.

I looked down and saw Charles’s hand. I looked at him, raising an eyebrow. “Could you please get off of me?”

Charles raised his head, “Not a chance.”

I sighed, and jumped in the air, twisting around, and landed on his wrist. I heard a crack. It shouldn’t have broken his wrist, but he tried to pull me down, which meant that I’d landed a little harder than I had planned. Oops. As he let go, and cradled his wrist, I leaned down, until I was level with his ear, and hissed, “Let this be a lesson, you mess with me or my friends, and I mess up your face. Or basically any other body part, as you should know, but the meaning is the same.”

I got up, smiling brightly again, and walked to Cary. “Okay. I’m done.”

He shook his head and smiled, “If you can fight like that, then why were you scared in the alley last night?”

I pouted, “I’m scared of the dark...”

He laughed, “Figures.”

Now that all the excitement was over, I realized something. “I’m hungry Cary!” I whined.

He raised an eyebrow, “Really. You just beat a guy up and stopped me from killing someone, and you’re hungry!

“Dude. I woke up an hour and thirty minutes ago. I haven’t eaten all day. I want food.” I explained.

Cary sighed, “Fine, I’ll pay.” He dug in his pocket for a few seconds, “What the... I can’t find my wallet!”

I blushed, “Sorry...” I said, holding his wallet up. “It’s sort of a habit now...”

“You picked my pocket again!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
> 
> LADY GAGA REFERENCES IN 1979


	5. Eatin’ Lunch, Eatin’ Lunch, with a Moment of Weakness, and Warlike Names

~*~Fireworks~*~  
~*~Chapter 5-Eatin’ Lunch, Eatin’ Lunch, with a Moment of Weakness, and Warlike Names~*~

Cary POV:

“...They were all sitting in a booth, forever. Waiting, for a waitress that would never come. Waiting, waiting, waiting. Until, one day, a waitress did come. And do you know what they did to her? They ate her freaking brains. And then they left that old, ugly, smelly, old, dusty, old booth, and wandered the world, eating... brains.” Azalea finished her scary story, and sat back, looking at us. 

“Umm, tell me again why you told us that story?” I said.

Azalea scowled, “Cause I’m hungry, and when I’m hungry, I go crazy. And I do weird things.”

“What kind of weird things?” Preston asked.

“I don’t know... Just, weird things...” Azalea said.

“Would you eat someone’s brain?” Alice asked.

“Could we please not talk about eating brains...” Martin said, holding his stomach.

“Am I the only one who’s actually bothered by the fact that Charles is just lying on the ground there, groaning? I mean, I don’t think that’s good for the diner.” Joe said.

“Am I the only one who’s actually bothered by the fact that you aren’t bothered that I just beat your friend up? I mean, you two have supposedly been friends since forever.” Azalea retorted.

Joe shrugged, “Well, he was overreacting earlier, and he was being a jerk. Besides, you were nice enough to warn him.”

Azalea looked confused, “Warn him? I didn’t warn him! The most I did was ask nicely for him to let go of my ankle, which he refused to acknowledge, therefore resulting in my breaking his wrist. I didn’t even mean to break his wrist! If he had just laid there and not tried to pull me down, he would’ve only had a sprained wrist, and that’s at the most!”

“Oh...” Joe said.

Azalea crossed her arms, “I’m hungry! If a waitress doesn’t get here now, we’re all going to starve, and become zombies, and eat brains! I DON’T WANNA EAT BRAINS!” She screamed suddenly.

I laughed, “God, Azalea, we’re not going to eat brains! Well, Smartin might, but that’s just him.”

Martin groaned, “I hate you...”

I smirked, “Didn’t you know Smartin, hate’s a very strong word.”

A waitress finally came over to our booth and gave us menus. “Would you like anything to drink?”

Azalea thought for a moment, “I’ll have a Coca-Cola.”

“Root beer.” I said.

“Arizona.” Alice said, looking pointedly at Joe.

“A-arizona...” Joe said, looking away from Alice, who was staring daggers at him.

“Ginger ale.” Preston said, looking at the menu.

“Water.” Martin said.

The table went silent. “Did you really just order water?”

“Yes,” Martin said, going red, “What’s wrong with water?”

“What’s wrong with soda?” I pushed. “You just turned down liquid freaking sugar!”

“I don’t drink soda. My mommy says that it’s bad for my teeth.” Martin said, pushing his glasses up.

“I’m actually surprised that you didn’t know that Cary.” Preston said. “After all, you’re the one with braces.”

“Shut up, Math Camp, and Martin, your mommy doesn’t know everything.” I said.

“Stop talking about my mommy!” Martin said, pouting, “She does know everything. She told me so.”

We al laughed, and I mocked, “Well, sorry, Smartin, why don’t you go cry to your mommy about it!”

The waitress cleared her throat, “Um, hello? Okay, what do you all want to eat?”’

Azalea POV:

About a cheeseburger, and three baskets of fries later, we all headed out. On my way, I looked down and saw Charles still laying there. I went back to the counter, “Could I have an ice pack?” I asked.

After receiving it, I dropped it on Charles’s head. He moved his head and looked at me curiously. I looked away, “You should put some ice on that. It’ll swell.”

He gave a small smile, and I smiled back. “Sorry.” I whispered.

I walked away before he could respond, catching up with Cary. “What did you do to Charles?” He asked.

We looked back at the same time. Cary saw the ice pack, and asked, “What? When did he get an ice pack?”

I smiled, “I had a moment of weakness.”

I walked away from Cary, who had his mouth gaping, and caught up with Preston. “Hey, Preston.”

He looked at me, “Yeah?”

You wanted to know about Nichole, right?” I asked.

His face suddenly went red, like he had drinken a whole bottle of Tabasco, in one gulp. “Y-yeah! U-um, when did y-you guys meet?”

I smirked, “You like her, don’t you.”

His face went even redder. “W-what! I j-just want to know h-how you guys met, t-that’s all, I s-swear! I don’t like Nichole!”

“Who said I was talking about Nichole?” I smiled evily.

Preston looked like his head was about to explode, then, he suddenly sighed, “Yes, I like Nichole. I miss her... We used to be great friends, then, after I met the guys, and Alice,” He added quickly, seeing her raise an eyebrow, “We just kind of, I don’t know, drifted apart, went our own ways... I tried to talk to her once... She screamed in my face... I was deaf for a week... Then, we were in the same class once, and she brought a pizza... She gave a whole slice to everyone. But me.”

“Ouch... Everyone, but you? That sucks...” I said, wincing. “Well, you should really tell her!”

Preston sighed, “I guess you’re right...”

“Yeah. I usually am.” I said, smirking, and flipping me hair back.

Preston seemed to gain confidence, all of a sudden, “Yeah, I’ll do it! I’ll tell Nichole how much I care about her!”

“YEAH!” I screamed, fist-pumping the air.

“LET’S DO THIS THI-” Preston was cut off as a shrill scream sliced the air in two.

Cary POV:

A scream suddenly sliced the air next to me. I jumped, and automatically looked for Azalea. I started to panic, when I couldn’t find her, when I heard her voice from behind me, “What the hell?”

I turned around in relief, and looked at her. I started breathing heavily, realizing that in the short span of time that I had been looking for her, I hadn’t been breathing. I sighed again, and walked to her side. “Hey, what’s wrong? You look like you stopped breathing for like a minute!” She asked me. Oh Azalea... If only you knew...

“Nothing, just that scream, freaked me out for a second...” I said.

The scream started again, and I grabbed Azalea, and holing onto her, I looked around for the scource of the noise. Seeing the source, my mouth gaped open, “WHAT THE HELL ,MAN!” I screamed at Martin, “What the hell was that!”

Martin gasped, and started crying, “It’s a SPIDER!” 

My mouth gaped, “A spider?” I said, in disbelief.

“A SPIDER!” Martin screamed again, before fainting.

We all stood around him. “Did he seriously just faint?” Joe said, disbelievingly.

“I think so...” Azalea said.

Preston laughed wryly, “Ironic... The name Martin is supposed to mean ‘warlike’...”


	6. Confrontations, and Awkward Confessions

~*~Fireworks~*~  
~*~Chapter 6- Confrontations, and Awkward Confessions~*~

Flashback~~~

Preston laughed wryly, “Ironic... The name Martin is supposed to mean ‘warlike’...”

Azalea POV:

We all froze for a moment, when Cary spoke up. “I’m not trying to be mean, but I just can’t see Martin as warlike.”

“Same here...” I said, grimacing.

We all started laughing, and I noticed that Cary was holding on to my arm. “Um, Cary?”

“Yeah?” He said, still laughing.

“Can I kinda have my arm back?” I asked, laughing nervously.

Cary started blushing as he suddenly let go. “S-sorry!”

“It’s okay...” I said, sighing in relief as all the blood started rushing back into my arm.

We all stood there awkwardly, until I decided to speak up, “This is getting awkward, so I guess that I’m going to Nichole’s. You should too Preston.”

“Okay.” Preston said, starting to follow me. 

“Not now, you idiot Later! In like, thirty minutes!” I cried.

Preston stopped. “Oh. Sorry.”

I smiled grimly, “It’s okay. I just have to convince Nichole not to scream at you, for when you come.” 

“Alright. See you then. But, what if you can’t convince her?” Preston asked.

I froze, “I’m actually betting that I can. But if not, I’m going to just wing it.”

Preston cocked his head to the side, “Are you usually, I don’t know, succesful, when you wing it?”

I looked away, “If I was, do you really think that I’d be betting that I can convince her...” 

Preston hung his head, “Oh my God.”

I started to leave, when I remembered something, “Where does Nichole live?”

They all stared at me and Cary spoke up, “You know, for such a diabolical girl, you really can be a total ditz sometimes.”

“Wow, thanks Cary. What a nice friend you are to me.” I said sarcastically.

“Anytime.” He replied, smirking.

I rolled my eyes, and after getting Nichole’s address from Preston, walked to her house. I knocked on the door, and waited for Nichole to answer. “Hello?” I heard her say.

“It’s Azalea.” I said.

“Oh, hey Azzie.” She said, opening the door, “Come on in.”

I came in and followed her up the stairs, and into a door that seemed to lead into her room. I looked around and took in my surroundings. The walls were dark blue, and there were heavy metal posters covering the walls. I turned around and looked behind the door, and saw a poster for The Knack. “Oh my God! I have this poster too!” I cried, turning to Nichole.

“SERIOUSLY! That is so cool!” She screamed.

We spent the next ten minutes screaming and jumping up and down, as I played the air guitar and whipped my hair while listening to My Sharona. I looked at my watch, twenty minutes left until Preston time. “So,” I said, “You were talking about Preston before, what were you saying?” 

Nichole blushed, “Well, we used to be best friends, then he met Joe and everyone, and we just stopped hanging out...”

“You never tried to talk to each other?” I asked.

“Well, he tried to talk to me once, but I screamed at him, and made him go deaf. Then I brought a pizza to class, then gave everyone a slice but him.”

“Wow.” I said, “Vindictive much?”

“A little!” She said, grinning.

“So, what’s up with you and Cary?” Nichole said, grinning evily.

Thankfully, before I had to answer, the doorbell rang. 

Preston POV:

Azalea left, and I stood there looking at my watch. I looked up and saw Cary watching Azalea walk away. I grinned to myself, finally Cary had a weakness. “You’re stalking her again.” I said, startling Cary out of his trance.

“Shut up Math Camp, you should’ve heard yourself. With your, I miss her... We used to be great friends, and blah blah blah!” Cary mocked.

“You do realize that has nothing to do with why you’re stalking her.” I told him.

“Well, sucks for you!” He said, rudely.

“That doesn’t even make sense.” I said.

“Well, too freaking bad.” Cary retorted.

I sighed and looked at my watch again. It had been about twenty minutes. Maybe that was enough time. I started walking towards her house. I got there, sighed, and rang the doorbell. After a few minutes, I heard Nichole’s voice. “Who is it?”

I gulped and answered. “P-preston?”

I heard a sharp intake of breath, “What do you want.”

“Can I come in? It’s a long story.” I said.

The door opened, and I saw Nichole standing there with a scowl on her face. “Fine. Follow me.”

I couldn’t help but grin while following her. I was on my way to her room. I remembered the route from when we would play “Thieves” and steal a box of cookies from the kitchen, and sneak back to her room, without getting caught. I remembered how her room looked. Pink, with frilly ballerinas in tutus, and unicorns on every surface. She opened the door, and I stepped in. My mouth gaped open. Blue walls. Heavy metal posters. “Oh. It’s... changed... in here.” I said awkwardly.

“No duh,” Nichole said, “Did you expect me to have princesses forever?”

“It’s not that!” I said, then noticed Azalea sitting on Nicole’s bed, “Azalea?”

She smirked at me, “The one and only. Now, don’t you have something to say?”

I felt my face heating up. “Oh, yeah.” I said.

Nichole raised an eyebrow, “What? I feel like I’m missing something.”

I took a deep breath, and looking at Nichole, started to go down on one knee. I looked over her shoulder, and saw Azalea shaking her head furiously, mouthing, “Dude, what the hell!” I blushed even harder, and pretended to be looking at my shoelace. I saw Azalea shaking her head, as if disappointed, and that gave me confidence. I stood up straight, and I said, “Nichole, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for ditching you, and for anything else I did that hurt your feelings. Please, forgive me?”

Nichole just stood there, not saying anything, but looking shocked. “Preston, give me one good reason to forgive you.”

I thought, and realized the only way to get her to forgive me, was to tell her something that she couldn’t ignore. I took another deep breath, and said, “Fine. I love you.”

Azalea POV:

I stood there in shock, as I heard Preston say the three words. The room went silent, save the sound of My Sharona in the background. I started to back out the door, and the last thing I saw before I closed the door, was Nichole suddenly throwing her arms around Preston, who looked embarrassed. I grinned and gave him a thumbs-up, seeing him looking at me. I kept the grin as I walked down the stairs and out the door. I carefully shut the door, and still grinning, walked home, went to my room, and shut the door. I slowly put my back against the door, and slid down, until I was sitting against the back of the door, hugging my knees. The grin slipped off my face, and the excited look in my eyes faded into tired hazel pools of sadness. 

I sighed, as I said to myself, “Great. Another pair. And yet again, where’s the thank you? I don’t know, I haven’t heard one since I matched up Russell and Kathryn. Now all I get are smiles as they sit there and hug and do all that sappy crap.”

I got up and walked to the mirror and used a wet washcloth to wipe all the makeup off my face. I looked at myself. Instead of the healthy girl who was laughing earlier, I was a sad, pathetic, tired girl with bags under her eyes as she sighed. I smiled halfheartedly, and irritably shook my head as the smile faded. I rolled my eyes, as I heard laughter outside my window. The person laughed again, and I thought about Cary. I saw his jacket, still hanging on my bedpost. I picked it up, and hugged it, making a mental note to return it the next time I saw him. 

I heard the laugh yet again, and thought about how familiar it sounded. I looked out the window and surprisingly saw Cary, standing across the street, talking with a brown-haired girl. She laughed and asked a question, and I saw Cary nod. She jumped up in the air, looking happy, and threw her arms around him. He looked confused, as he gently pushed her away. He said something which I couldn’t hear, then walked away, glancing at my house regretfully. The girl watched him walk away, and turned around and looked at my house thoughtfully, then scowled a little. Seeing her face, I gasped in recognition. She turned towards my window, and seeing me, her eyes widened. I blinked, “Kelly?” I said incredulously.


	7. Old Friends, New Enemies?

~*~Fireworks~*~  
~*~Chapter 7- Old Friends, New Enemies?~*~

Flashback~~~

“Kelly?” I said incredulously.

Azalea POV:

I looked out my window at Kelly. She had been one of my best friends, from when I still lived in California! I yelled down, “Hold on, I’ll be down in a second!” I came away from the window, and seeing my face in the mirror, blushed. I hurridly put on concealer to, well, conceal the bags under my eyes, and ran a brush through my hair a few times. I ran down and out the door, smiling, as if I hadn’t been almost crying a minute ago. “Hey Kell! What are you doing here!” I said, happily.

She smirked at me. “Visiting a friend.”

I blinked, “You missed me that much?”

She rolled her eyes, “Um, no. I missed you, but I’m not going to fly across the country to see you!”

“Oh.” I said, “Then who?”

She smirked, “Cary Underwood.”

Cary POV:

I was walking to Azalea’s house to ask how it went with Preston, and ran into someone who I’d hoped to never see again. “Hey Kelly.” I said, trying not to groan.

“Hey Underwood.” She said, smiling brightly.

“Don’t call me that...” I said, rolling my eyes. She had given me the nickname, when she had heard my name when we were at school, and wanted to annoy me, knowing that I hated my last name.

“Fine, grumpy, what am I supposed to call you then?” She said, fake scowling.

“Cary. My actual name!” I said irritably.

“Underwood’s your actual name too, you know!” She chided.

“Oh shut it, Clarkson.” I said, using her last name.

She pouted, “Why are you always so meean!”

I gaped, “What, the hell, are you talking about?” I stopped, as I realized that Kelly reminded me of a certain flower. I started to smile, thinking of how Azalea had acted earlier at lunch. Then I stopped, remembering that I was with Kelly. I looked at her, and saw that she was still talking. I started to nod, and pretend that I had been listening. “REALLY!” She squealed, hugging me all of a sudden. “Wait, what?” I said, pushing away from her. “Never mind, I gotta go.” I said, walking away, taking one last glance at Azalea’s house.

I walked away as fast as I could. I’d never liked Kelly, mainly because she scared the crap out of me. Not because she was scary, but because she was so clingy. She never left me alone, and she’d always show up at the moments when I wanted her least. Charles used to call her my girlfriend, wait, Charles! I stopped walking. Charles might be able to help, if he wasn’t still mad at me! I started walking to his house. After I arrived, I stood on his porch, about to press the doorbell. Suddenly, the door flew open, with Charles standing there, grinning happily. Well, as happy as he could, considering his broken wrist. 

“Hey man! What the hell took you so long! For a second I thought you were kidnapped by Killy!” Charles shouted. Killy was what we used to call Kelly, back when she used to stalk me. 

“Funny you should mention that...” I said.

“Why?” Charles asked.

“She’s back.” I said, by way of explanation.

Charles cussed so loud, that his mother stuck her head out from the kitchen, and a baby started crying. “Sorry!” He called to his mom. “I thought she was gone?” He said, curling his lip.

“Well, she’s back now...” I said to him grimly, “And I need your help to get her the hell outta our town.”

Azalea POV:

“Cary Underwood?” I asked.

“Yup! Short, blonde, unbelievably cute!” She squealed.

“Wait. Cute?” I asked.

“YEAH!” She squealed again. “I was just, like, talking to him!”

“I saw. And yes, I know Cary. I just, didn’t know his last name.” I said.

“Okay! And, I’m having a party, to celebrate my return here. So you better come.” Kelly said.

“Party. Yee.” I said, without emotion.

Kelly looked at me strangely. “What the hell. What happened to the party animal that I used to know? I mean, like, if I had told you I was having a party a week ago, you would, like, be all happy, and stuff!” 

I almost started to groan from the overuse of the word, ‘like’, but I didn’t. Instead, I just said, “Well, I just got here yesterday, and I’m kinda tired!”

Kelly rolled her eyes, “Well, I got here, like, four hours ago, and I’m planning a party!”

“Well, everyone's different! God, Kell. You are so freaking irritating! But I still love you. No homo, of course.” I said.

“No duh. Anyway...” Kelly started talking about the party. I stopped listening, and I heard her say Cary’s name all of a sudden. 

“Wait, what?” I said.

Kelly, sighed impatiently, “I said, that I was going to announce that Cary and I were officially dating!”

“D-dating!” I stuttered.

“Yeah! Since like, when we were in front of your house!” Kelly said. “I was talking to him, and I just, like asked him if he wanted to go out, and he nodded, and then I-”

I didn’t want to hear anything else. I ran away, without looking back at Kelly. I ran, without looking, and ran into someone. We both fell to the ground, and they got up. “Azalea? Are you okay?” I looked up, and saw Cary, holding out his hand to help me up. I let out a choked sob, as I slapped his hand away, “Don’t touch me!” 

I got up, and ran away. Again. I ran until I couldn’t see anymore, from the tears that had started to blur my vision. I rubbed my eyes, and as my eyes cleared, I saw a house with a yellow car and two bikes out front. The door opened, and I saw Joe leave. He took one of the bikes, and as he got on, he looked up and saw me. “Azalea?” He said. “Why are you... Never mind.” He got off his bike and walked towards me and put an arm around my shoulder. “Come on. Let’s go inside.”

I let him take me inside, and as we walked up the stairs, I tried to stop crying. We walked in a room, and Joe said, “Alice?”

I saw Alice get up from where she was sitting on her bed. “Joe? I thought you were leaving?” She said, then stopped, seeing me. “Azalea? What- Oh my God you’re crying!”

She got up and came over to me. “What happened?”

I took deep breaths, and answered, “K-kelly...”

Joe and Alice’s eye’s widened, “Kelly? Kelly Clarkson? I thought she moved to California?”

I stopped crying for a second and stared at them. “You know her?”

“Yeah,” They both nodded, “She used to live here, but she moved to California. How do you know her?”

My eyes widened, “She was my best friend, when I lived in California!”

We sat there, looking at each other silently. After a few moments, Alice said, “That still doesn’t explain why you’re crying.”

I sighed, “I was talking to Kelly, and she told me that she and Cary were... were, g-going out...” It hurt when I said it, but I just wanted them to know.

Alice’s eyes widened in knowledge. “You... Like Cary?!”

I blushed, “Well, considering the fact that I can’t stand the fact that he’s going out with my old best friend, I guess so.”

Alice laughed, and I smiled, when a voice came from outside the house. “Azalea? Are you there? Are you all right?”

We stopped, and I froze, knowing the voice but dreading it. Alice went to the window, and confirmed my fear. “It’s Cary.”

All my self-control suddenly vanished, with the sound of that name, and I crumpled to the ground, sobbing.


	8. Why?

~*~Fireworks~*~  
~*~Chapter 8- Why?~*~

Flashback~~~

All my self-control suddenly vanished, with the sound of that name, and I crumpled to the ground, sobbing.

Cary POV:

I was walking back to Azalea’s house, after a long talk with Charles about the plan to get Kelly out, since Azalea would want to help, knowing her. I saw someone running down the street, all of a sudden. They probably weren’t looking, because they slammed into me, knocking us both to the ground. After a closer look, I saw that it was Azalea. I got up and reached out my hand to help her up, “Azalea? Are you okay?” I asked. She slapped my hand away, and let out a sob, “Don’t touch me!” She got up and started running again. I didn’t know what was wrong, but I wanted to find out, so I ran after her.

She ran for blocks, until she turned a corner and I lost her. I stood there panting for a few seconds. Then I started walking in the same direction that I had seen her run. I ended up at Alice’s house, and I got there in time to see Joe take her inside. I stood there for a minute, and after catching my breath, I walked up to the side of the house, and called, “Azalea? Are you there? Are you all right?”

I waited, and after a few seconds, I heard a thump, and someone started to sob. My eyes widened as I ran to the front door and threw it open. Starting to panic, I ran up the stairs into Alice’s room. My breathing was ragged as I looked around the room for the girl that I couldn’t seem to leave alone. I saw her in a clump on the ground, sobbing. I panicked as I knelt down next to her and tried to put a hand on her shoulder. She looked at me, pushed me away, and started to sob harder. I looked at her, hurt, and then got up, and looked at Alice. 

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

Alice glared at me and said coldly, “You should know, this is mostly your fault, anyway!”

“My fault?” I asked, “Joe?” I looked at him, only to see him shake his head sadly.

“Azalea?” I tried again.

Her head picked up, and I saw the tears running down her cheeks. “If you really want to help, then leave me alone!”

I frowned, “What? I don’t understa-”

I was cut off as Azalea suddenly screamed, “GO AWAY! JUST GO WITH YOUR GIRLFRIEND OR SOMETHING! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!”

My mouth opened to protest, but I closed it and turned away, hurt. “Fine. I don’t know what you mean by girlfriend or what I even did, but fine. I’ll leave. Goodbye Azalea.”

I walked out the door, feeling numb. I walked home, and went upstairs. I sat on my bed, unfeelingly. I remembered Azalea screaming at me, and winced. I shook my head, and closed my eyes. I didn’t want to think of her anymore. It hurt too much. I changed into my night clothes, and went to sleep, unasked questions still on my lips. I thought of her laughing, just a few hours ago, and then to her pushing me away, when she was crying. I fell asleep, and the last word I remembered saying before I drifted off to sleep: “Why?” 

Azalea POV:

A few minutes after I started to sob again, I heard the door open, and someone run up the stairs and into the room with us. I felt them try to put a hand on my shoulder, but I pushed them away, starting to sob more. I heard him ask, “What’s wrong?” I almost laughed. What’s wrong? How dare he even try to talk to me! It was all his fault I’m the mess I am now!

Sure enough, I heard Alice say coldly, “You should know, this is mostly your fault, anyway!”

“My fault?” I heard him ask, like he had no idea what was going on. “Joe?”

Joe seemed to ignore him, and he asked me again, “Azalea?”

My head picked up, and I saw his eyes widen as he saw the tears running down my cheeks. “If you really want to help, then leave me alone!”

He frowned, “What? I don’t understa-”

I cut him off and screamed, “GO AWAY! JUST GO WITH YOUR GIRLFRIEND OR SOMETHING! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!”

His mouth opened, but he closed it and turned away, looking sad. “Fine. I don’t know what you mean by girlfriend or what I even did, but fine. I’ll leave. Goodbye Azalea.”

I watched him walk out of the door, hoping he would look back. As he closed the door, I felt the tears running down my cheeks again. My hands started to shake, and I started to sob again. I felt Alice kneel next to me, and put her hand on my back. “Come on, let’s get you home.” She said.

I nodded, and slowly stood up, trying to rub away the tears, and failing completely. Alice put her arm around my shoulders, and we started walking. We finally got to my house, and we stood there for a second. “Thanks.” I said.

“Don’t worry about it.” She replied, patting me on the back.

I smiled sadly, and started to walk up the stairs to the porch. I heard Joe say my name. I turned around and looked at him curiously. He made a sad expression, and said quietly, “I’m sorry.”

I felt myself make a sad expression, and I nodded. They nodded back and started to turn around. I did too and I walked up into my house and I went up to my room. I brushed against a table and knocked something down. I looked closer, and saw that it was a photo of me and all of my friends. I took the picture out of the frame, and turned it over. It said, “Back-to-School-Barbeque, 1978”. I smiled, thinking of all the fun we’d all had. I put the photo back, and turned around to get ready to sleep with a small smile on my face. I looked on my bed, and I saw Cary’s jacket. The smile slipped away, as my face fell. I still had trouble believing that Cary and I weren’t friends anymore. I felt a tear run down my face and I felt myself starting to cry again. 

A small part of myself was disgusted with myself for being such a wimp, yet another part of me just wanted to curl up in a ball and spend the rest of my life sobbing in a corner. I didn’t know what to choose, so I wiped my tears away with my sweater. I changed into a large t-shirt and shorts, and glancing at Cary’s jacket, decided to put it on. I curled up in bed, inhaling the scent of fire, from Cary’s jacket. I felt the tears coming again, so I buried my face in the jacket, and went to sleep, thinking of Cary, and I heard myself say one word before drifting off to sleep: “Why?”

Cary POV:

The next morning, I got out of bed feeling sore. I rubbed my eyes and got out of bed and made myself some breakfast. As I was getting cereal, I heard a knock on the door. I made a confused face, I had no idea who would visit. My head shot up, as I had a ridiculous thought that it might be Azalea. I all but ran to the door, and I threw it open, starting to smile. My smile froze, when I saw Kelly. “What do you want?” I said, frowning.

Kelly made an hurt face, “What? I just wanted to say hi to you...”

My jaw dropped and I said incredulously, “You wanted to say hi to me. In the morning. I just woke up!”

Kelly smirked, “I also wanted to know if you needed help...”

I raised my eyebrows, “With what?”

She smiled slyly, “I heard about your fight with Azalea... I was worried about you, she can get very mean, and violent at times...”

I crossed my arms and asked, “And you know this how exactly?”

She flipped her hair back and said nonchalantly, “Oh, we used to go to the same school...”

My eyes widened, “What?”

She smirked, “We went to the same school. She was quite the party animal... She also had quite a temper... I had to pretend to be nice to her so I wouldn’t get hurt...”

“What!” I cried.

“Are you deaf or something? I’m trying to tell you that Azalea is a freaking psychopath! Will you listen to me!!” Kelly screamed at me.

I held my hands up in front of me, “Sorry, sorry! God!”

She ran her fingers through her hair and rolled her eyes. “Whatever. It’s cool. I can’t be mad at you anyway, because of...” She trailed off.

I made a confused face, “What? Because of what?”

Kelly walked up to me and batted her eyelashes. “You know, Cary...”

I started backing up. “Um, no I don’t!”

“Well, let me refresh your memory... You agreed to go out with me a few nights ago. So now we’re dating, and I’m announcing it at my party tomorrow night.” Kelly said putting her hands on her hips.

I narrowed my eyes. “Okay. We’re going out?”

She smirked. “Yes. Also, that’s why Azalea hates you. And there’s nothing you can do about it.”

I sneered at her nastily, “Oh yeah? Well, it’s over.”

“What?” Kelly said raising her eyebrows.

“I said, it’s over. We’re not dating anymore.” I said laughing.

She stood there, gaping. I laughed even harder. “See ya round Killer.”

I walked out the door trying not to roll around on the floor laughing. I got outside and sighed. I went back inside and said, “Now get out of my house.” Kelly rolled her eyes and crossed her arms and walked out. I slammed the door in her face and went upstairs and changed into jeans and a red t-shirt. I looked in the mirror and flipped my hair out of my face. I grinned, grabbed my backpack and ran downstairs, on my way to Azalea’s house to apologize.

Azalea POV:

After I woke up, I automatically got up to change and hurry to the diner, then I remembered Cary. I sighed, and went to the closet, picking jean shorts, and a pink tank top. I brushed my hair, and started playing My Sharona. I was so busy dancing and whipping my hair that I almost didn’t hear the doorbell. 

I ran downstairs, and grinning, opened the door, “Hello?”

My smile froze as I saw Cary, standing awkwardly in the doorway.

“What do you want.” I said coldly, the smile slipping off my face.

He stood there for a few seconds, then he took a deep breath and said, “Azalea, I don’t know what to say!”

I laughed incredulously, “Then what the hell are you doing here!”

He laughed too, “I actually have no idea!”

At that comment, we both started cracking up. After we stopped laughing our heads off, Cary said, smiling sadly, “Remember when this happened at the diner...”

I smirked, “You mean after I stopped you from killing Charles!”

He rolled his eyes, “Yeah, guess so!”

I stopped smiling, “Wait, seriously, why are you here?”

He stopped smiling too, “Oh. Yeah. Well, I have to tell you, I knew nothing about Kelly and I dating until this morning.”

I tilted my head, “How? You agreed to go out with her!”

He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, “I wasn’t paying attention, and I saw she was asking a question, so I just nodded.”

I face palmed, “WHAT! Do you have any idea what I went through! You idiot! You freaking-” I stopped myself.

Cary grinned, “So am I off the hook?”

I shook my head, smiling, “I can’t believe you...”

He laughed, “I’m going to take that as a yes.”

I raised my eyebrows, “You are unbelievable.”

He held out his hand and said, smiling gently, “Come on, let’s go to the diner.”

I took his hand and we walked hand in hand to the diner, where we stopped at the doors. “You do realize that Alice is totally going to kill you right?” I asked.

Cary blushed and let go of my hand, “Yeah... But at least you aren’t mad at me!”

I grinned at him, “Pretty much! Best friends?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.

“Best friends.” Cary confirmed, smiling.

We pushed open the doors to the diner together, ready to endure any hell that the rest of the Super Six had to offer.


	9. Confessions, and Confusions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHY IS THIS SO CHEESY THIS SHOULDN'T BE SO CHEESY

~*~Fireworks~*~  
~*~Chapter 9- Confessions, and Confusions~*~

Flashback~~~

We pushed open the doors to the diner together, ready to endure any hell that the rest of the Super Six had to offer.

Azalea POV:

Cary and I pushed open the diner doors together, and I stepped inside, checking out the scene. I held a hand up to Cary, telling him to stay back. “Hello? Alice?” I said, cautiously.

“Azalea! We were just talking about you!” Alice’s head popped out of a booth.

I walked over, and I saw Nichole and Preston sitting next to each other. I grinned at Nichole, “Hey! Look who’s here! What’s up Nichole?”

She smiled back at me, “Nothing... Just...”

Preston suddenly blurted out, “We’re going out!”

Nichole glared at him, “You idiot! I was going to tell her!”

Preston shrugged, “Well, you took too long!”

I smirked. “Okay?”

We stood there in silence for a few seconds, looking at eachother awkwardly. Nichole bit her lip, “Awkward silence...”

I grinned and jumped into the air, “I broke the silence!”

As I landed onto the ground, I saw everyone looking at me, even Cary from where he was outside. Charles spoke up, “Total. Fail.”

I crossed my arms and pouted, “Meanie...”

Charles shrugged and I rolled my eyes. I noticed that I was the only one standing, so I pulled Preston out of his seat, and dumped him onto the floor. I then sat down next to Nichole, and said, “Oh, dear Preston. However did you get on the floor?”

Everyone started laughing and I made the signal for Cary to come in. As he walked up to the table everyone went silent. Alice narrowed her eyes, as she said coldly, “What the hell are you doing here.”

Cary shrugged, “I don’t know. What are you guys doing?”

I smirked, “Being total idiots, apparently. Care to join?”

He grinned and made a bowed mockingly, “My pleasure!”

I motioned to everyone on my side of the booth to move over a little. As we moved, Nichole whispered in my ear, “What are you doing?”

I smiled and whispered back, “Just trust me on this.”

I turned back to Cary, “Well? Are you going to sit down or not?”

He rolled his eyes at me and sat down on my right. By now we had everyone’s attention. Alice sat there just glaring at Cary, and from the looks of it, he was growing uncomfortable. I spoke up, “As much as I enjoy seeing Cary squirm, you should stop, Alice.”

She looked at me, “Why?”

“Because, even though it really was hilarious, Cary would be mad if I didn’t stop you.” I said, turning to Cary and pinching his cheeks, “Isn’t that right, Cary-kins.”

He slapped my hands away, muttering, “Hag.”

I froze, and raised my eyebrows, “Excuse me?”

He smiled forcefully, “Nothing.”

I narrowed my eyes, “That didn’t sound like nothing. I dare you to say that to my face.”

Nichole stage-whispered, “I think you should apologize.”

Charles nodded, pointing to his wrist, which was still in a sling. Cary gulped and nodded, “Um, I’m sorry. I actually said... I... Like your... Bag?”

I raised an eyebrow, “I’m not wearing a bag.”

He rolled his eyes, “Whatever.”

I grinned, “Okay!”

Cary laughed, “Nice.”

I shrugged, “What else do you expect from me!”

He shook his head at me, “Actually, I have no idea.”

Suddenly, Alice stood up, slamming her hands on the table, interrupting my totally awesome comeback. “What is wrong with you two!”

Cary smirked, “Nice. Now you’re acting like Charlie.”

Charles gasped, and Alice growled. “I can’t believe you! First, you go and go and destroy Azalea, then you come back in, claiming to be best friends again. What is with you!”

Charles pouted, “Yeah man! I mean, how can you bring that up! You almost killed me! Are you really that sick?”

I put a hand on Cary’s back, seeing him tense up. “It’s okay, Cary. Just cool off. It’s going to be fine.”

I felt him take deep breaths, and Alice pointed at me, “And you too! God, do you remember what he did to you! You were curled up in a ball, freaking crying your eyes out! And you just forgive him, the second you see him!”

Cary tensed again, and I rubbed his back. I stood up and leaned closer to Alice, so only she could hear what I was about to say. “I forgave him so fast, because I saw he meant it. I forgave him, only because one thing. Because I love him.”

Cary POV: 

I sat there as I heard Alice, “And you too! God, do you remember what he did to you! You were curled up in a ball, freaking crying your eyes out! And you just forgive him, the second you see him!”

I tensed up, ready to get up and punch her in the face for saying what she did about Azalea. I was so angry at Alice that I was willing to kill her for insulting my Azalea. Wait, what! My Azalea?! I was glad that my bangs were covering my face, because I was sure that I was blushing. I felt Azalea rub my back, and I heard her get up and hiss something in Alice’s face. It must have been mean, but what I didn’t get was that instead of slapping Azalea, Alice just sat down beaming. “Finally you realize it!”

Azalea sat down, stunned, “I can’t believe it.”

Alice smirked, “Well, people do crazy things, when they’re in love.”

I sat there, confused, “Wait, what? Crazy, love? Okato, Cary is officially confused as Hell.”

Alice smirked, “Well, here’s the lowdown. Azalea forgave you, mostly because she’s in love with someone.”

Azalea went red, “What the Hell Alice! Why are you telling him, dammit!”

I got agitated all of a sudden, “What! Who?”

Azalea’s face paled, “None of your buisiness.”

“Just tell me about him!” I pressed.

“Fine,” Azalea sighed, “He’s really sweet, at times, but he can be really irritating, when he wants to be. In my opinion, he’s the cutest guy in the world, and he’s just.... Just... He’s just perfect!” She stared at me hopefully.

I let my breath out in a huge sigh, “Okay. You sound like Martin talking about his mommy! God, you’re obsessed! Well, you know what? I hope you two live happily ever after!” The last three words I said sounded bitter and hurt.

Azalea made a confused face, “Wait, what?”

I glared at her, “You heard me! Go live happily ever freaking after with your boyfriend!” I stormed off growling, and the last thing I heard, was Alice’s voice, in the background, “That did not go how I planned...”

I slammed the doors shut to the diner, and as I turned around and took one last glance at them, I saw Alice shaking her head, while Azalea had her’s in her hands.

Azalea POV:

“Just tell me about him!” Cary pressed.

“Fine,” I sighed, “He’s really sweet, at times, but he can be really irritating, when he wants to be. In my opinion, he’s the cutest guy in the world, and he’s just.... Just... He’s just perfect!” I stared at him hopefully, hoping that he would get that I was talking about him.

Sadly, he let his breath out in a huge sigh, “Okay. You sound like Martin talking about his mommy! God, you’re obsessed! Well, you know what? I hope you two live happily ever after!” He spat the last three words in my face.

I made a confused face, “Wait, what?” Don’t tell me...

He glared at me, “You heard me! Go live happily ever freaking after with your boyfriend!” He stormed off growling, and I saw Alice shake her head, and say, “That did not go how I planned...”

Cary slammed the doors, and I put my head in my hands, “Oh my God. Oh my God.”

Alice laughed incredulously, “He didn’t get it. I can’t believe it.”

Preston got off the floor, finally, “Hold up, I don’t get this. You like some guy, and when you told Cary, he lost it.”

I lifted my head up, and I said flatly, “I don’t just like some guy. That whole time I was talking, I was hinting, like crazy.”

Charles made a confused face, “I still don’t get it.”

Alice rolled her eyes, “Wow.”

I put my head in my hands again, “You’re such a freaking dumbass! I was hinting, because I li- God, love Cary.”


	10. Hidden Memories, And Secrets, Revealed?

~*~Fireworks~*~  
~*~Chapter 10- Hidden Memories, And Secrets, Revealed?~*~

Flashback~~~

“You’re such a freaking dumbass! I was hinting, because I li- God, love Cary.”

Azalea POV:

I said the words that I had been denying to myself ever since I had heard the words coming out of Kelly’s mouth, that she and Cary were dating. I could feel myself falling apart. That was the whole reason I moved here. To get away from my heartbreak. I remembered what happened. I remembered why I moved.

Flashback~~~

“Rory, I love you!”

“I have a girlfriend. Get away from me.”

“W-what? I thought we were friends?”

“Well, you thought wrong. I know about you, and your secret.”

“My secret? I-I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“Ugh. I hate people like you. Get out of my sight.”

“What? People like me?”

“I know that you’re adopted. I know why you hid it.”

“What? No!”

“I know your secret, Azalea. I know who your father is.”

“SHUT UP! YOU DON’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME!!!”

“Sure I do. You’re the daughter of-”

The flashback was cut off, right before he said the name, but I shivered, like I knew the name, but just couldn’t say it. I shook my head, and sighed, “Okay. I’m going home.”

Alice looked at me worriedly, “You gonna be okay?”

I nodded, “Yeah. I’ll be fine.”

She nodded, and I started walking. A few minutes later, I was home, and I walked up the stairs, thinking about how freaking unlucky I was in love. I flopped down on my bed, thinking about the weird flashback I’d had earlier. The weird thing was, I couldn’t remember the secret. I got up and walked around my room, strangely bothered by the secret. I went through the box of things that I still hadn’t unpacked. 

I saw a small box at the bottom, wedged under a pile of books, as if it was meant to be overlooked. I took it out, and took a closer look at it. It was about the size of a Rubix Cube, and looked like one too. The only difference, was that instead of saying “Rubix Cube”, it said, “A.F.#13.V2” in small writing. I turned it over in my hands, and I felt my nail catch in a small groove. I wedged my nail in, trying to open it, to no avail. After looking at it for a few seconds, I went into my jewelry box, and took out a hair clip, and used it to pry the box open. 

I felt a rush of air run over my hands, as the strange cube slowly hissed open. When it finshed moving, My eyebrows furrowed, as smoke came out of the now open cube. I waved away the smoke, and eagerly peered inside. I saw a button, and putting my finger on it, felt that it fit my fingerprint contours exactly. I spied a small piece of paper taped to the lid. 

I opened it, and read, “Hello. If you are reading this, it probably means that you have found Experiment #13, Version 2.” I relaxed a bit. So that was what the initials meant. But what did “A.F.” stand for? 

I read on, “You should also know, that A.F. stands for Air Force.” 

I tensed again, What did the Air Force have to do with this cube? “This device was created to restore certain memories, that were stolen for certain reasons.”

What? Stolen memories? What did that have to do with me? I don’t have any stolen memo- Oh. The flashback with the missing name. I should’ve guessed. Anyway, back to the note. “If you wish to have your memories returned, then press the button. It will be entirely painless, and will cause you no physical harm. However, I will warn you that some memories are ones that you may have wanted to forget. Therefore, the transition will be entirely painless, physically, but emotionally, there is no telling.” 

I rolled my eyes. This is such a bunch of bull. I would never fall for such a obvious trap. At least, that’s what I thought before I read the next few sentences. “I know you will not believe me. That is why, I will tell you something that I know will convince you that this is not, as you probably think, a bunch of bull.”

I blushed, who the heck was this person? “Here is what I will say that you should do. Go to your ‘friend’ Kelly. Tell her you know what she did to you, on your last day in California. If she looks nervous, or shows any signs of panic, you will know that this is real, and not a hoax. If she acts indifferent, and knows nothing, then you can just ignore all of this.”

I rolled my eyes. It was a little weird that the person knew so much about me, but for a lack of anything better to do, I decided to go along with what the note wanted me to do. I looked out of my window, and saw Kelly walking on the street. I leaned out, “Hey! Kell!”

She looked startled, “Um, what?”

I smiled, “Hold on, I gotta ask you something.”

I rushed down without waiting for an answer. She was standing there impatiently, “Okay? By the way, my party’s tomorrow.”

I bit my lip,”I know what you did to me the day I left California.”

Her eyes widened, as she said nervously, “W-what? I don’t know what you’re saying!”

I nodded, “Okay. Bye! See you tomorrow!”

I started to rush back upstairs to my room, and I thought to myself, what did Kelly do to me? I got back to the cube, and continued, “Thank you for taking your time to read this note. I wish you luck with your memories, if you choose to take them back, though no matter how much you want them, getting them will only cause you pain. They have already almost destroyed me. -Azalea”

I gasped, what was my name doing there? I looked closer at the handwriting, and realized that it was indeed mine. Though I don’t get how I was involved with the Air Force. At all. But I looked closer at one part. “Go to your ‘friend’ Kelly.” I was confused, ‘Friend’? Was Kelly really a good friend to me? Confused, I sat on my bed, and my hand brushed against Cary’s jacket, which I still had yet to return. I decided to do it now, while I was still confused, so I wouldn’t chicken out at the last second. 

I put the jacket on, and started walking. I got there, and heard voices, “What do you want!”

“Just to try and help you. I know you got in another fight. I told you to stay away from her.”

“S-shut up!”

“Oh, so naive. Just ignore her, and be with me. She’s horrible. She’s disgusting, compared to me.”

“Get away from me!”

“Oh, Cary. Poor you. Why hang around with that wreck, when you can be with me.”

“You don’t know anything about Azalea!”

I tensed, was Cary defending me? I heard the voice talk again, and I thought how familiar it sounded.

“Ugh, fine. Be stubborn. Just remember what a psychopath I’m telling you Azalea is. My offer still stands, if you’re ever interested.”

I barely had time to move my ear from the door, when it opened, and the speaker was revealed. “K-kelly?”


	11. Discoveries,  Revenge, and Party Planning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story would be the perfect example of why 12 year-olds should NOT write fanfiction.

~*~Fireworks~*~  
~*~Chapter 11~Discoveries, Revenge, and Party Planning~*~

Flashback~~~

I barely had time to move my ear from the door, when it opened, and the speaker was revealed. “K-kelly?”

Azalea POV:

I stood there in shock, watching as my supposed “best friend” looked at me, paling, “A-Azalea! I didn’t see you there!”

Regaining my composure, I took a deep breath, “No kidding, Kell.”

Kelly started to panic, “You didn’t hear me, right!”

I snorted, “How could I not. You all but screamed it to the world.”

Kelly started to actually shake, “Uhhh...”

I couldn’t help laughing at her face, and she relaxed a bit, “Y-You’re not mad?”

I moved my arm a little, and remembering that I still had Cary’s jacket. I felt a lump, and as I looked at it, a hilarious idea came to me. It was a little cruel, but I was really mad, though I didn’t look it. I remembered Kelly, and said, “Yeah. I’m not mad.”

I saw Cary making an incredulous face in the background, and Kelly sighed in relief. “Good.”

I smirked evily, and took out the object, holding it up for them to see. Cary widened his eyes, and Kelly went pale again, “I-I thought you s-said y-you weren’t m-mad!”

I smiled sweetly, “I know what I said. I’m not mad. I’m furious.”

“Oh.”

Cary POV:

Kelly sweatdropped, “Oh.”

I stood there, marveling at Azalea’s daring. She looks beautiful, I thought. Like a goddess... Wait! I shook my head, trying to stop thinking about that. Azalea was my best friend. Nothing more. Then why are you so protective of her, a voice said in the back of my head. Because, I can be, I thought defensively. Mmmkay. Yeah right, the voice said, mockingly. I shook my head again, thinking to the voice, GET OUT OF MY HEAD! Someone’s not happy, the voice said, with a hint of humor. I stopped shaking my head to try to clear my thoughts. Because, A) It just wasn't working, B) Azalea was looking at me weird, and C) I was just plain dizzy. Wait, what was B again! Why did I care so much! The little voice came back, because you love her. NO! I can't love her! She's my best friend! So, the voice said. I tried to think of a reason, and failed. I sighed, finally realizing the obvious. I was in love with Azalea Koch.

I finally stopped my mental arguement, and looked at the two girls. Kelly was shaking so hard that it looked like she was in an earthquake. Azalea was still grinning, clearly enjoying Kelly’s fear. She flicked the wheel and grinned even wider, seeing the flame leap up from my lighter. Kelly started to whimper.

I decided to speak up, “Um, Azalea?”

Azalea looked at me, annoyance on her face, “What? I’m trying to carry out my awesome yet totally dangerous plan that will probably leave someone handicapped for life!”

“Um, okay? But anyway, you should know that Kelly’s deathly afraid of fire...”

She glared at me, “I know that, Underwood! I used to be her best friend! Now will you quit interrupting me!”

I held my palms up in surrender, “Okay, okay, just saying!”

Azalea gave the ‘Oh-My-God-When-Will-This-Idiot-Leave-Me-Alone’ sigh, and I smirked. She saw me, and scowled. I laughed, and she turned her face away from me childishly. I felt my heart beat quickly, as I stared at her, thinking about how I couldn’t leave her alone.

Azalea POV:

My heart beat faster, when he laughed, and I could feel a smile coming on. I quickly turned away, back to Kelly, the man-stealer. She was still shaking, and I couldn’t help giggling. I waved the lighter near her face, and she started sobbing. “How do you like this?”

She started crying harder, “P-Please stop!”

I grinned cruelly, “No. I’m not stopping. I’m going to show you how much I hurt. I’m going to make you hurt as much as I did that night.”

She looked at me with tears in her eyes, and I relished in the fact that she was crying like I did. “Now you know how how I felt. Not so sure of yourself now, are you?”

Another sob. I was getting bored with just the crying. “Let this be a lesson to you,” I said, putting the flame on her highlights. The flames flew up her hair, and she took deep, quick breaths. Soon her hair was on fire. I laughed, as she screamed and sobbed. Soon though, I took out a bottle of water from my pocket and threw the contents over her. “Oh no. Did I just throw gasoline on you?” I said, lightly, watching Kelly finally flip out and run down the street screaming, not seeming to notice that she wasn’t on fire anymore, and that I was just kidding.

“Teach you to try and steal my man... Bitch.” I called after her, muttering the last word.

“What?” Cary’s voice came from behind me.

“Huh? Oh, hey Cary!” I said quickly.

“Hi. What did you scream after her?”

Cary POV:

I felt my heart start to beat faster, after hearing her scream after Kelly, “Teach you to try and steal my man... Bitch.”

Did she just call me her man? Does that mean she likes me back? “What?” I asked, carefully.

“Huh? Oh, hey Cary!” She said, turning around.

She was trying to change the subject. “Hi. What did you scream after her?” I asked.

She sighed, “I can’t tell you.”

I scoffed, “I heard what you said, Azalea.”

She widened her eyes, “What!”

I rolled my eyes, “Yes, I did.”

She quickly regained her composure, “If you heard, then why do you need me to say it?”

I was getting impatient, “Because, I want to make sure what I heard was correct!”

Azalea rolled her eyes, “Well, since I’m not going to tell you anything, can we just leave this conversation! Please!”

“Fine!” I said rudely, turning away.

I heard her sigh, and come next to me. I turned my face away from her, not wanting her to see how hurt I was. She put her hand on my shoulder,”Cary.”

I shook her hand off, only to have he put it on my shoulder again, “Cary!” she said, urgently.

I shook it off again, only to have her grab both of my shoulders, and harshly turn me towards her. I put my head down, not wanting to look her in the face. “Look at me Cary.”

I clenched my face and kept my face looking downward. “Dammit Cary! Look at me!” She cried, and I felt her hands start to shake.

I slowly brought my face up to look at her, and was shocked to see tears welling in her eyes, as she clenched them closed. She shook again and let go of me, “Fine. Go. I don’t care.”

I cupped her face with my hands and wiped her tears away. She sobbed, and suddenly grabbed onto me. Surprised, I slowly put my arms around her, and took her over to the steps, and I sat down with her. I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and rocked her back and forth, murmuring to her that it was alright.

“Azalea... Shhh...” I murmured softly to her.

I heard a faint mumble from her, “What?”

She spoke up, “I’m sorry...”

I was confused, “For what?”

“I don’t know... I just am...”

I rolled my eyes and patted her head affectionately, “Then what’s the point of being sorry, idiot!”

She lifted her head from my chest, “I am an idiot, aren’t I...”

“No... You’re just an uncontrollable psycho with a obsession with terrifying people.” I said, teasingly.

She blinked and stood up, “Why yes, yes I am. Thanks for the compliment!”

I stood up too, “So I take it you’re okay?”

She shrugged, “More or less so. I still have a little voice in the back of my head telling me to go after Kelly and rip her head off, but other than that, yeah. Fine.”

I furrowed my eyebrows, “Okay?”

She did a fist pump into the air, “Yeah!”

Looking at her, I saw my lighter in her hand, and I reached over to take it from her. As it left her hand, she blinked, as if she’d had no idea that she was just holding a lighter. I put it in my pocket, and she suddenly blurted out, “I have your jacket!”

I nodded, “I can see that.”

Blushing, she held it out to me, “Sorry it took so long for me to give it back...”

I smiled at her, and took it from her, “It’s okay.”

After a few minutes of awkward silence, she spoke up, “So, do you want to go to the diner or something?”

I shrugged, “Sure.”

We walked there in silence, and the second we opened the doors, we were bombarded with questions:

“Where were you!”  
“You missed Kelly! She was running down the street like a maniac!”  
“Do you guys have any food?”  
“What were you guys doing?”  
“Do you have any food?”  
“What time is it?”  
Do you have any food?”  
“Where the hell, were you DUMBASSES?!?!”

That last question was Charles. Azalea smirked, “God, all of you shut up!”

They all went quet, and Azalea continued, “We were at Cary’s house, Alice. And yes, Joe, we saw Kelly,” She gave a knowing smile to them, “We were with her, and it is currently, “ She checked her watch, “Three-fifteen. And Martin, we’re at a diner, in case you haven’t noticed. Go buy some food yourself.”

We laughed as Martin blushed and hurridly ran to the counter. Azalea looked around and came next to Nichole, who was in a booth next to Preston. She looked pointedly at him, but he just raised his eyebrows at her. Sighing, she pulled him out of the booth and dumped him on the floor, and took his seat. She looked at him nonchalantly, “Oh, dear Preston. However did you get on the floor...” A moment of silence, “Again.”

We all laughed, and she stretched her arms out, “So. What’d we miss?”

I blushed, hearing her say ‘we’, and Alice looked at me, smirking knowlingly. Charles spoke up, in response to Azalea, “We were thinking, that since Kelly’s throwing some party, we have two options. Option one, is-”

“Crash it.” Azalea interrupted.

“Exactly,” Charles continued, “And option two, which is throw a party, that is ten times as awesome, and twenty times as badass as hers is.”

Azalea nodded thoughtfully, “Option two sounds good, but how are we going to pull it all off?”

“And when is it?” Nichole came in.

Charles answered, “The party would have to be tomorrow night, if it’s going to rival Kelly’s. And I was thinking, Azalea, could we use your house? Since your folks are out of town.”

She nodded, “It’s fine, but you all better help clean it all up.”

Charles gave us a thumbs-up, “Perfect. Now, who’s bringing what?”

Preston spoke up from the floor, “What do we need?”

Charles made a thoughtful face, “We need... Food, soda, music, banners, strobe lights, alcoho-” He looked at me.

I widened my eyes, “No.”

“Please!” Charles pleaded with me.

“NO.” I said forcefully, “I’m not giving you guys my stash.”

Azalea made a confused look, “You have an alcohol stash?”

”NO!” I screamed, “I just keep a few bottles on hand for my explosives, that’s all...”

She looked relieved, “Well, can you spare a bottle or two?”

I looked into her pleading eyes and relented, “Fine,” I sighed.

Charles grinned, “Mint. Now who’s bringing...”

It went on like that until we finished, and had Nichole on food duty, Preston on soda, Alice and Joe on music, Martin on decorations, Charles on strobe lights, and me on alcohol duty. We were finally ready. We had supplies and a place to hold our scheme, now all that was left was to just do it.


	12. Let’s Get This Party Started!

~*~Fireworks~*~  
~*~Chapter 12- Let’s Get This Party Started!~*~

Flashback~~~

“We had supplies and a place to hold our scheme, now all that was left was to just do it.”

Azalea POV:

It was finally the party night. I was in my house with the gang, watching Martin dial numbers of people. “Hey, um, Ruby? Ruby Rae? Yeah, this is Martin. We have a party at Azalea’s house at seven, you up for it? Okay, cool, see you.”

I smirked as he dialed another person, “Dude, how many numbers do you have?”

He scoffed, “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

I raised my eyebrows, but didnt push, “Okay...”

I left him to the invites, and went over to Joe and Alice, who were working on the speakers. I took the song list, and read it. They had My Sharona, Le Freak, YMCA, Hot Stuff, and lots of other songs. I gave them a thumbs up and moved on. I saw the decorations that Martin had brought and the sodas that Preston had just put down. As I moved on, I gasped. “Holy crap. Who brought the cookies.”

Nichole raised a hand, “That would be me.”

I walked up and hugged her, ”You are the best person in the world.”

She smirked, “You just noticed?”

I ignored her, “I love cookies.”

Rolling her eyes, she responded, “Apparently.”

I made a face at her and walked to Cary, who was just standing in a corner. “Hey,” I said, tapping him on the shoulder.

“Oh. Hey,” He said, looking at the floor.

I cocked my head to the side, “You okay?”

He shrugged, “I guess. I’m just kinda worried about the party.”

I snapped my fingers, “Oh yeah! Do you have the alcohol?”

He jumped, “Holy crap! I totally forgot!”

I widened my eyes, “What are you waiting for? Go get it!”

He saluted to me as he ran out the door, and I smirked. Finally, I made my way over to Charles, who was setting up the lights. He nodded at me, and finished what he was doing. He stood up, brushing his jeans off, “Thank God that’s over. I swear that there is no way in Hell, that I’m doing that again.”

I shrugged, “You volunteered for it.”

He rolled his eyes, “Sadly. And Jen wants to see you, Alice, and Nichole.”

I nodded, “Okay.”

After I stood there for a few seconds, he added, “Now.”

I rolled my eyes and went to get Alice and Nichole. I found Alice and Joe on a bench, holding hands. “Sorry to interrupt the lovefest, well, not really, but Jen wants to see us.”

Alice sighed, “Fine. Bye Joe.”

Joe sighed too, “Bye Alice.”

I smirked, “Oh get over it. You’ll see each other later!”

Alice and I walked away, to Nichole, who was hitting Preston on the arm. I rolled my eyes and unceremoniously dragged her away from him, and leaving him standing there awkwardly. “What the heck!” She screamed, as I dragged her away.

I rolled my eyes, “Dragging you away from your boyfriend.”

“Well, why?”

“Because I freaking can. Just kidding. It’s because Jen wants us,” I replied, not looking at her.

“Oh. Okay. But can I walk by myself?” She said.

I let go of her, and stopped, because we were in front of Jen’s door. “So... You guys ready?”

They shrugged, and Nichole said, “Well, no. But we really don’t have a choice, do we...”

I slapped her on the back, “Exactly. Now let’s move girls.”

I knocked, and not even a second later, the door swung open, and we were enveloped by the whirlwind of makeup and cropped shirts that is Jennifer Kaznyk.

She stood us in a line and looked us over, “Uh-uh. This is so not going to do.”

Upon hearing that, we gulped, dreading the words that we knew were going to come out of her mouth.

“You need a makeover.”

Okay, maybe it wasn’t that bad. She took Alice first, and took her into her bathroom, and pushed Nichole and I into the hall, then locked the door. Soon she took Nichole and left me sitting against the wall. Finally she pulled me in, and stood me in front of her closet. She threw clothes at me, and I put them on, not looking for fear of what I might see. After I had everything on, she adjusted everything, and sat me in front of her table. She fixed my hair and gave me a pair of shoes to put on. Then she started putting makeup on me. After what seemed like an eternity, she finished, and pushed me into another room, where Nichole and Alice were.

Their eyes widened, as they said in unision, “Oh my God.”

Nichole walked up to me, and put her arm out, like she wanted to touch me but was afraid to, “Azalea? Is that you?”

I grimaced, “Ugh. I look horrible, don’t I...”

I turned around to look at myself in the mirror, and froze. Jen had put me in a cropped pink shirt and jean shorts that were so short that you could hardly call them shorts. She’d straightened my hair, put it in a messy bun and changed my part so my hair fell in front of my left eye. I raised my hand to tuck it behind my ear and suddenly Jen was there, slapping my hand away. I put my hands up, “Okay, okay! I get it!”

She backed away, but not before making the universal “I’ve-Got-My-Eye-On-You” sign. I looked back at myself. I had on light pink blush and shiny pink lip gloss. I noticed mascara, which seemed to be the reason why my eye was so itchy. Lastly, I noticed my gold gladiator sandals, and my toenails, which were suspiciously more sparkly blue than when I had last seen them. “Jen?”

She grinned, “Yup!”

“Did you do my nails?”

She grinned evily, “Maybe.”

I shuddered before turning away. A few seconds later, the doorbell rang. “That would be the boys,” Jen said blithely, not noticing my discomfort.

Alice gulped, as she tried to pull down her extremely short dress, and Nichole turned white, as she stared at her neon pink miniskirt. We all prayed silently that none of the boys would judge our outfits.

“We’re here!” We heard Charles yell out.

I looked at my friends, “So. We can’t hold off forever.”

Nichole grimaced, “Wish we could.”

Alice sighed, “I’ll go first.”

I pat her on the back, “Good luck.”

Nichole smirked, “Ditto.”

Alice rolled her eyes and walked out to meet the boys. I heard Joe say awkwardly, “Wow. You...look... good.”

A moment of silence. Then, “What the hell man! She looks hot!”

I heard Alice laugh a little, “Thanks Charles.”

“Hey! She’s my girlfriend!” Joe protested.

Alice laughed again, “Nice to know you care.”

“I think that’s my cue...” Nichole whispered.

I smirked, “Better you than me.”

She rolled her eyes at me and grimaced, “See you on the other side.”

She walked out to the others and I couldn’t hep rolling my eyes at the ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ that she got, like Alice. I heard Charles say, “Hey, where’s Azalea?”

I was about to go out, when Jen suddenly appeared, “Wait.”

I watched curiously as she went out to them. I heard Preston say, “Where’s she?”

I could hear the smirk in her voice as she said slyly, “It’s just that Azalea’s so hot she needs me to escort her.”

Nichole and Alice must’ve raised their eyebrows at her, because she hurriedly said, “You guys look great too! But Azalea is my freaking masterpiece.”

I heard the two of them murmur in agreement as Jen said, “Okay. Come on out Azzie.”

I took a deep breath as I walked out to join the others. Gasps of amazement came from the boys, and I rolled my eyes, “Honestly. It’s as if you’d never seen a girl before.”

Martin walked up to me and touched my hair, “You’re so...pretty....”

I pulled away, and made a weird face at him, “Um, thanks?”

Charles started smirking, “Wait until Cary sees this!”

As if on cue, the door opened, and I went white. I heard Cary’s voice drift towards us, “Hey guys! I brought the drinks!”

We didn’t respond, and he came closer until he was in frost of us, “Guys? I said I brought th-” He stopped as he looked at me. “A-Azalea?”

I felt myself blush, “Obviously.”

He frowned, “You look...”

I held my breath, praying he’d say I looked good, or something nice, “Weird.”

My jaw dropped, and I saw Charles facepalm in the background. “Excuse me?” I asked him incredulously.

“Weird. You look weird.” He said, oblivious to my shock.

I felt myself start to shake, as I whirled around, hurt. I stormed away, tears forming in my eyes, to the bathroom. As I passed Jen, she grabbed my arm. I tore away from her and hissed, “I told you this was stupid!”

She had the grace to look shameful at least, “I’m sorry!”

I glared through the film of tears covering my eyes, “Shut up.”

She looked like she wanted to say more, but she didn’t, and I took my leave.

I got to the bathroom, and not even bothering to close the door, I sat down against the sink, and started to cry. I couldn’t even believe that he would say something like that!

I stayed that way for a few minutes, and got up, determined. I looked at myself in the mirror, and prepared to waipe the makeup off my face.

Cary POV:

I ran in Azalea’s house, only to be greeted with Azalea and the gang. Azalea was in the center, and they were all staring at her. I saw her in unbelievably short-shorts, and a cropped pink shirt. She looked hot, but just not...her. “A-Azalea?” I heard myself stutter.

She blushed, “Obviously.”

I frowned, “You look...”

She bit her lip delicately, and I finished, “Weird.”

Her jaw dropped and she asked, “Excuse me?”

I nodded, “Weird. You look weird.”

She started shaking, and I was startled. She whirled around, and stormed away. “Nice going, dumbass,” I heard Charles say.

I looked at him, “What?”

Preston shook his head, “You blew it.”

I tilted my head, “What do you mean?”

Joe spoke up, “I may not be a ladies-man, but even I’m pretty sure that you don’t call a girl ‘weird’, when they obviously put so much effort into her appearance.

Charles shook his head, “Man, she was hot.”

I automatically answered, “Get away from her.”

He smirked at me, “Protective, hmm? Shame. She won’t like you now that you’ve called her weird.”

I sighed, “I didn’t mean bad weird, I meant strange weird!”

Alice raised an eyebrow, “That’s not what it sounded like. It sounded like you said she was ugly.”

I gaped, “She’s not ugly! She’s hot!”

Everyone groaned and screamed in my face, “Then go tell her that!”

I put my hands up in surrender, and ran to the bathroom, where I heard sniffling. “Azalea?”

She was in front of the mirror, about to wipe the makeup off her face. Her eyes were red, and I immediately felt guilty.

“I’m so sorry!”

She rolled her eyes, and was about to start wiping, “Azalea! I didn’t mean like...”

She raised an eyebrow, “Like...?”

I sighed, “Like, you didn’t look bad! I just wasn’t used to seeing you dressed like that!”

She snorted, “Like what?”

I shrugged, “I don’t know, like Jen!”

She laughed a little and put her hand down, “Then how do I look?”

I blushed immediately and looking away, rubbed my neck, “Like, really pretty, or, hot, I guess.”

Her tone softened, “Cary...”

I kept my gaze down, and she said again, this time playfully, “Cary...”

I pouted a little and said, “What?”

I almost fell over as she jumped at me, giving me a huge hug. I felt myself start to blush, as she laid her head on my shoulder, with her arms still around me. “Thanks,” I heard her say softly.

“For what?” I asked.

She lifted her head up and smiled softly at me, “Being you.”

We stood like that for a few more seconds, before we broke apart, reluctantly. She smirked at me, “You really think I look hot?”

I smirked back, “Well, I wouldn’t say that. More like just pretty.”

She gasped mockingly, “Only pretty?”

I smirked again, and walked close to her, until we were only a few inches apart. I heard her breathing catch, and I slowly put my hand up to her face. We were both breathing unevenly, and I saw her close her eyes. I murmured, “Pretty.”

I pulled the pins holding her hair up out, and I watched as her hair tumbled down her back, “Now you’re hot.”

Azalea POV:

I could feel my heart beating faster and faster as Cary and I stood there, him holding my face and me with my eyes closed. I opened my eyes slowly and looked at him. We stared into each others eyes, and without speaking, moved closer together. I put my arms around his neck, and he put his around my waist. We moved closer, and I thought to myself, Am I about to kiss him? Do I want to? Then, I thought, Hell yeah!

We were so close now, that I could feel his breath on my face, then, “AZALEA! CARY! GET YOUR ASSES DOWN HERE!”

We jumped apart suddenly. I looked at him, feeling hot. His face was flushed, and he was breathing heavily. I blushed, and he blurted out, “I’ll just leave you here to get ready. Bye!!”

I stood there, in shock. I looked at myself in the mirror. My face was flushed and my eyes were as big as dinner plates. I took a deep breath, and started down the stairs. As I reached the bottom, I saw Alice and Charles fighting over a cookie. “What the hell?”

They paused and looked at me. “What? We’re fighting over who gets this cookie!”

I rolled my eyes. “Apparently. And I have a solution.”

They looked curiously as I walked up to them. They looked at me expectantly. “So?”

I looked back and forth at the two. “The one who gets the cookie is...”

I grabbed the cookie and shoved it in my mouth. “ME!”

They made indignant noises and Alice shouted, “NOT FAIR!”

I swallowed the crumbs and licked my lips. “Life’s not fair.”

Charles started to say something, but the doorbell cut him off. I gulped and looked at the door. “Who’s answering?”

Surprisingly, Martin spoke up, “I’ll go.”

We looked at him in wonder, as he walked up and opened the door. It was a girl with unbelievably red hair, which was straight, down to her shoulders with babydoll bangs. She was wearing black All-Stars, black and white striped knee-socks, denim short-shorts, and a David Bowie shirt that looked handmade. She gave a snarky grin and said, “Hey Marty.”

Martin grinned back, and I looked around at everyone else. Alice and Joe were looking at each other,Nichole and Preston looked like they were having a staring contest (which Nichole seemed to be winning, poor Preston), I couldn’t see Cary anywhere, and Charles was looking at her like Cupid had come up and shot him right in the a- ahem. Heart with one of his arrows. His face got all red, and he looked at his feet.

Martin seemed to end his conversation, and the girl came over to me came over to me. “Hey! Guess you’re the famous Azalea, am I right?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Famous?”

She grinned at me. “Yup. I’m Ruby.”

I smiled at her. “Cool. Hey Ruby.”

She winked. “Call me Bee.”

I raised an eyebrow, amused. “Sure.”

Nichole finished her staring contest with Preston, and came over to me. “Where’s Cary?” I asked her.

She shrugged. “I dunno. Probably outside.”

I nodded. “’Kay.”

I walked outside, and sure enough, there was Cary, sitting on the steps playing with his lighter. “Hey,” I said, sitting next to him.

He glanced briefly at me, then resumed flicking the wheel on his lighter. “We really need to stop meeting like this.”

I jumped when I heard him speak, and he grinned softly. “Jumpy, aren’t we.”

I scowled. “That’s unfair!”

He looked at me, still smiling. “In what way, exactly?”

I felt myself flush. “You surprised me!”

He shook his head. “You were looking right at me!”

“So?”

“So, you should have seen me.”

I sighed. “It wouldn’t have mattered.”

He looked at me inquisitively. “Why?”

I looked at him earnestly. “You always surprise me,” I suddenly thought of what had happened earlier, and tuned away, blushing, but not before I saw Cary’s face go jalepeno red.

We sat like that for a while, with our heads facing away from each other, and our faces blushing furiously. Thankfully, before it got too awkward, Alice came to get me. “Azalea. The party’s starting! Oh, hey Cary.”

I jumped up quickly, and without looking at Cary, ran inside, where the party was just starting.


	13. Parties and Realizations

~*~Fireworks~*~  
~*~Chapter 13- Parties and Realizations~*~

Flashback~~~

I jumped up quickly, and without looking at Cary, ran inside, where the party was just starting.

Azalea POV:

I walked in and, and was amazed at how much the house had filled up in the few minutes I was gone. Nichole ran up to me, with an irritated look on her face. “Where the Hell have you been? We’ve been waiting for you!”

I shrugged. “I was with Cary, outside.”

She rolled her eyes. “Of course you were.”

I grinned, and she pulled me to the other side of the room, where the rest of the gang was. “Hey.”

Charles glared at me. “You took way too long.”

“Well, I’m sorry for being a girl.”

Martin pushed Charles away. “COME ON! LET’S GO!”

I flinched. “What the Hell? Are you already drunk?”

He smiled. “Nope. Just excited.”

I smiled, suspicious. “Sure.”

I walked up to the DJ table where Joe was adjusting some cords. “We ready?”

He glanced at me. “Whenever you are.”

I nodded slowly, and picked up the microphone. “Hello?”

Almost immediately, everyone stopped and looked at me. I continued, “Uh, hi. So, the drinks are over there, the food is there, stay away from upstairs, and if you break anything, I will break you. That is all.”

I handed the mic over to Joe, who stood up and yelled, “LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!”

Everyone cheered, and I was swept into a crowd of people who seemed intent on getting to the alcohol table. After getting mobbed by about three people who seemed intent on selling me weed, I broke away, and was swept into a corner, where I saw a boy with wine-colored hair and hazel eyes. “Uh, hi.”

He looked at me seriously. “You just said that.”

Taken aback, I stammered. “Um, y-yeah. Guess I did.”

“They’ll destroy this place.”

I shrugged. “We’ll see. You never know.”

He looked at the group which had started a rampage around the alcohol table. “Why do you have so much?”

“It’s not mine.”

“Why does your friend have so much?”

“He’s a pyro.”

He gave a small smile. “Cary?”

I looked at him curiously. “You know him?”

He laughed. “I knew him in school. He used to light an explosive in the middle of math class every day. Scared the crap out of me.”

I laughed too. “I like you. What’s your name?”

He smiled again. “I’m Nathaniel Cage. You can just call me Nate.”

“I will. I’m-”

He cut me off. “Azalea. Everyone here knows you. The girl who moved from California to little old Lillian.”

I shrunk a little. “I like Lillian.”

“I do too. I came from London, but I guess this town’s grown on me.”

I grinned. “Same. I can’t even remember my life before this.” 

Suddenly, I realized that I really couldn’t. My last memory before this town was my fight with Kelly. Disconcerted, I started to panic, but Nate spoke up. “You might want to talk to other people. You know, make friends?”

I nodded. “See you around?”

He just smiled at me, and I left, heading straight to my room. I headed straight for the cube that I’d found a few days before. I skimmed the note, and seeing my signature, shivered. I placed my hand on the little button, and took a deep breath, before pressing it. I felt a little sting, and I flinched. “That’s all?” I felt cheated. Suddenly, my head spun, and I fell onto my bed, as the memories started to return. I decided to let them take their time, and left to the party.

I went to get some cookies, and noticed a girl staring at me from the corner of my eye. Using my very sneaky spy skills, I took a look at her. She had long curly blonde hair, pale skin, grey-green eyes, braces, and large glasses. I suddenly felt a tug in my head and went into a flashback.

Flashback~~~

I was walking down a hallway, in a stiff green outfit. I was almost to a bit steel door, when suddenly- “Azalea!” 

I heard my name, and turned around. “Hey Jess. What's up?”

“Guess what?”  I grinned. “What?”

“I hacked into Jeremy's computer, and guess what?”

“What?”

She smirked. “Found our traitor.”

I gasped. “Did you tell Dadd- Colonel?”

She frowned at me, hearing my slip-up, but ignored it, smiling again. “Yeah. He said he might upgrade me to Sector One!”

I gaped at her. “Seriously? That's great!”

“I know, right! We'll be together!”

“That's great! But where is he now? I just got back, so I gotta report.”

Her smile fell off her face. “Azalea...”

“What?”

She looked at me, hurt evident in her eyes. “Can't you forget about missions for a minute?”

“What do you mean?”

“I'm never able to have a conversation with you as Azalea! I only get her for a few minutes, then you turn into Lieutenant Koch. Or rather, Lieutenant Ne-”   
I cut her off. “It's not my fault I actually pay attention to my job. If you weren't so obsessed with that damn ferret-”

“Hannah.”

“Whatever. If it wasn't for Hannah, you would've ben Sector One years ago.”

I spun around and marched off, nodding at people who walked to the side, seeing me coming.

End Of Flashback~~~

Confused, I put a hand out, to steady myself. The girl came closer, and put a hand on my shoulder. “You okay? Maybe you've been drinking too much...”

I backed away. “N-no... I'm fine...”

I saw a head pop out of the girl's pocket and she scowled. ''Sorry... Hannah tends to pop out when she's not wanted...”

Hannah.

I blinked. “J-jess?”

Her eyes widened. “Uh, yeah?”

Not knowing what to say, I just stammered an excuse, and walked away. I hid behind a group of obviously drunk people. I looked at the girl, who had now adopted a serious expression, and was keying something into a small device. I was just about to determine what it was, when an arm suddenly dropped around my shoulders. Startled, I looked to see who it was, and was shocked. 

“Hey Azalea!” Martin was swaying side to side, with two other girls clinging to his arm. 

I sighed. ”Martin, you are absolutely wasted.”

He smiled drunkenly. “Better wasted than stoned...”

I narrowed my eyes. “Better sober than either.”

He started protesting, and I cut him off. “We're taking you home.”

The girls on his arm started whining, and I shot a glare at them. They slinked off to some other guy and I dragged Martin around, looking for someone to help me take him home. I scanned the room for my friends, and saw Charles in the corner. I started towards him, and stopped, noticing a red-haired girl attached to his face. I shook my head, laughing. “Wow... Bee of all people...”

I shook my head, and looked around for others. Alice and Joe were surrounded at the DJ table, so they were out of the question. I saw Nichole and Preston around, and I dragged Martin to them. “Hey!”

Nichole looked at me, and her face lit up. “Hey! Having fun?”

I threw a pointed look at Martin, and she bit her lip. “Oh.”

Preston appeared over her shoulder. “Hey Azal- Whoa. What's up with Martin?”

“Wasted,” I abruptly answered. 

He faded away, and I looked at Nichole. “Look, I'm taking him home, so if anyone asks, that's what's up.”

“You sure you can do it alone?”

I nodded. “Yeah, it's just all the mumbling about the rainbow monkeys thats bothering me.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Rainbow monkeys? Well, if you're sure, I'll just wait here.”

I smiled at her, and started off. At the door, I was met by two girls. One of them, with startling green eyes, freckles and shoulder-length crimped black hair spoke up. “Hey, I'm Gwen!”

The other, who had bright blue eyes, shoulder-length strawberry-blonde hair with side-bangs smiled at me. “Hey, I'm Sky.”

I nodded. “Hey, I'm Azalea, but I can't talk right now... I gotta-”

“Take Martin home?” they answered in unison.

“Uh, yeah.”

Gwen winked. “We'll do it. We don't want you to miss your big night.”

Sky scowled at her. “Well, she wasn't supposed to say that, but yeah.”

I shrugged. “Well, if you really want to, he's all yours. But as a warning, he's totally drunk right now.”

Sky wrinkled her nose. “We can see that.”

I handed him over to them. “Good luck...”

Gwen saluted. “No problemo boss. We'll get him home.”

They turned to go, and as I started back inside, I felt a nudge on my arm. “Hey, Azalea?”

I looked at the person, and saw it was Nate. “Hey, what's up?”

He waved my question off. “Nothing. You need to go outside!”

“Where? And why?”

He looked into my eyes urgently. “The little hill a few streets over.”

“Okay, but why? Can I have a hint?”

He stared at me seriously. “I won't say anything but this. Cary.”

My eyes widened. “What? Is he okay?”

Nate shook his head and teasingly zipped his lips. “Can't say.”

I pouted. “That's not fair.”

He winked. “Azalea! Not fair is Africa!”

I rolled my eyes, and he smiled at me. “Come on, just hurry.”

I gave him a small grin. “Okay...”

He squeezed my hand reassuringly, and nodded. “Hurry.”

I turned to go, and I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around, and looked at Nate. “Yeah?”

He gave me a kiss on the cheek, and I blushed. “What was that for?”

He winked. “You said you wanted a hint.”

Not knowing what to say, I just turned away and started walking. 

“Good luck!” I heard Nate call after me. I gave him a thumbs up, and on my way out, noticed little bite marks in the chip bowl. I smirked, thinking of ferrets, and remembered the girl. Jess. I scanned the room, but she was gone. I cursed to myself, and continued walking.

A few streets over, I saw the hill that Nate had wanted me to go to. I started walking up, but saw Cary laying looking at the sky, his arms behind his head. I started smoothing my clothes and fixing my hair, but then thought about how I was going to see Cary of all people, and stopped. After all, he didn't care what I looked like. At least, I hoped so. I walked up and leaned over him. “Hey.”

Cary POV:

I was just on the little hill on Almond Street, contemplating the mysteries of life... And Azalea. I hadn't seen her since she announced the party, and just as I'd been about to walk up to her, she'd been swept away by the crowd. I looked for her, but after encountering three drug dealers, two clingy girls, and one absolutely wasted Martin, I'd left to get some air. I'd expected quiet. I'd expected the cold air. However, I hadn't expected Azalea of all people to show up. “Hey.”

I looked at her, leaning over me, with her hair falling over her shoulders, and tickling my face, making a tingly feeling that I interpreted as my wanting to kiss her, or just to sneeze. Unfortunately, I didn't think it was the sneezing option. “So, what's up?”

Azalea lay down in the grass next to me, and started playing with her hair, which didn't do wonders for my concentration.

I shrugged, as best I could with my hands behind my head. “Nothing.”

She went silent, and I hoped that I hadn't seemed to rude, when she spoke again. “You're stargazing.”

It wasn't a question, but rather a statement, which was surprisingly accurate. I looked at her. “Yeah. How'd you know?”

She smiled wistfully. “I used to stargaze with Kelly back in California.”

“Oh.”

She pursed her lips. “There weren't exactly that many stars to see, considering all the artificial lighting, but we still used to do it. We'd name stars after ourselves, and play games, like, 'Find the Northern Star', or 'Which Way is West'.”

“Fun games.”

Azalea laughed. “Yeah, I always won. Though, now that I'm looking back, we seemed a little military-like. I mean, what ten year old looks for the Northern Star? Or needs to find their way West.”

I smirked. “Apparently, you two.”

She hit me on the shoulder, and feigning injury, I got up, holding the arm that she'd hit. “Oh no! I'm maimed!”

I started limping away as she watched curiously. “Oh, I must find my way to a hospital! Which way is west?”

She scowled. “It's not funny.” 

“It is to me.”

She turned away, and I plopped down next to her. “C'mon, Azalea! I was just messing with you!”

She clenched herself tighter, and I crawled next to her, trying to see her face. “Azalea?”

Suddenly, she sprang at me, and surprised, I fell back, with her on my chest. She looked at me proudly, and tapped my nose. “I win.”

Trying to keep the heat from reaching my face, I pouted, a plan forming in my mind. “Not fair...”

She raised an imperious eyebrow. “And what is?”

I jumped up, and flipped her, so I was leaning over her face. “This.”

She blushed, and I did too, and I rolled off her, and started picking through my backpack. A few minutes later, she came and looked over my shoulder. “Do you have any fireworks?”

I nodded. “Yeah...”

“Can you use them?”

I took them out, and showed them to her. “Yeah, but I don't know if the neighbors will like it.”

She smirked. “If they don't mind a teen party down the block with a bunch of wasted children and stoned teenagers, they certainly won't care about this.”

“You have proved your point.” I took out my lighter, and setting up the fireworks, sat back and lit the fuses. I pulled Azalea along so she was sitting at the top of the hill with me, and I looked at my watch. “Five seconds. Four. Three. Two. One,” I nudged Azalea and pointed at the sky, just as the fireworks went off, shooting blue, green, silver, and many other colored sparks into the air. “Zero.”

We watched like that for a while, and I didn't even think twice about putting my arm around her, and neither of us noticed when she put her head and my shoulder. We probably looked like a happy couple, watching their first firework show. Soon, the sparks fell, and we regained control of our thoughts. I started to pull away, but she grabbed onto my arm, and looked at me with big eyes. I stared at her, noticing the different emotions in the depths of her hazel eyes. I saw loneliness, and sorrow. I saw pain and torture. I saw all the emotions that shouldn't be in someone as amazing as Azalea. So when I heard her whisper, “Please.” I didn't think twice. I walked away, down to the fireworks. 

She cried out, and I looked at her with a small smile. “I'm not leaving. I'm just setting up another one. I know you'll like it.” Well, either that or she'll be so embarrassed that she'll leave and never look back. I went with my hope that she'd like it, and lit the fuse, running back to her. She immediately put her head on my shoulder, and I put my arm around her, as if I could protect her from all the sadness I'd seen in her eyes.

I directed her attention to the sky, just as the show started. The sparks flew up, this time with only green and sliver in their colors. The show was shorter, and as the sparks fell, they fell in a pattern. They moved, until they spelled a name.

“Azalea”

I looked at the girl beside me, as she stared up at the sky in awe, her mouth open in an “O”. The last spark fell, and she looked at me. Tears sparkled in her eyes, and her mouth was still open, as she shaped words that couldn't come out. Soon she gave up on all attempt at speaking, and threw her arms around my neck. It was then that the noises escaped. She sobbed on my shoulder, as I rubbed her back. She shook as she cried in my arms, and I murmured to her, until the last sob left her, and she looked at me. I smiled at her, and she said two words. “Thank you.”

And in that moment, in the moment when she looked and saw me, and I saw her, I couldn't help myself. 

I kissed her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter tho.


	14. Confessions and Kidnapping

~*~Fireworks~*~  
~*~Chapter 14-Confessions and Kidnapping~*~

Flashback~~~

“And in that moment, in the moment when she looked and saw me, and I saw her, I couldn't help myself. 

I kissed her.”

Azalea POV:

The fireworks went off, and I closed my eyes. Without seeing the lights, I realized that the fireworks sounded like gunshots. Suddenly, I felt a mental barrier break, and all my memories came rushing back. I clenched my hands, and in my head heard people yelling.

Flashback~~~

“N-no! Please don't!” A woman clutched a man, who was seemingly unconscious and laying on the ground.

I looked at the woman, and said coldly, “Don't what?”

The woman gestured wildly, and I realized that I was holding a gun, pointed at the man. “Please! Just don't kill him! We'll leave, we'll go far away, just please don't hurt him!”

I shook my head. “Tsk, tsk. You just don't understand, do you Natalie.”

“What?”

I pushed my hair back, and smirked contemptuously. “You betrayed us. You disappeared, out of nowhere, in the middle of a mission. To go to some plain man you met when you were supposed to be undercover. You thought that we thought you were dead. Well, you couldn't have been more wrong. I was assigned to find you. And, well, I did.”

Tears sparkled in her eyes. “We were friends! I saved your life!” 

I looked away, off the bridge we were on. “Lieutenant Jones saved my life. I only see a pathetic citizen.”

“Azalea, please. Just this once.”

Coldly, I said, “Why?”

“I would have done the same for you.”

I flinched, and sighed. “I know.”

“Then?”

I threw my gun down. “I hate you so much.”

Her eyes watered. “Azalea?”

I glared at her. “Take him. Take him and run. Get out of the country. Leave. Anywhere out of the US.”

She started to say something, but I cut her off. “No time. I can hold them off, say that you jumped off, and killed yourselves.”

“But what about you?”

“I'll be fine. Just... Just go. And live your life. Forget all about us. Forget about me.”

She started to get up, and stopped, looking into my eyes. “You'll come to visit?”

Looking at her hopeful expression, I relented. “Fine. Just not too often.”

Beaming, she started to gush. “We'll keep pictures! I'll name our child after you!”

I laughed, and hugged her. “Just please, please, please stay safe? If you die on me I swear I'll kill myself.”

She pouted, and I pushed her. “Come on. What are friends for?”

We grinned as we spoke in unison, “To love, cherish, and just plain kick ass with.”

We started to giggle, and I remembered my mission. “Okay, just hurry and go!”

She saluted me. “Yes ma'am!”

I sighed. “I hope that's the last time you ever salute someone.”

She gave me a sad smile. “Are you sure you'll be alright?”

I scoffed. “No.”

Natalie opened her mouth, and I shook my head. “Don't just go, before I do something I'll regret.”

She hoisted the man on her shoulder, and smiled at me. “I will never forget this.”

She started off, and paused one last time. “You promise?”

I nodded at her, and she disappeared into the distance. A minute later, I put my head in my hands, and cried.

I was safe for a year. Then they were informed of the two, living in England. They had just had their second child, named Chrysanthemum. Their first child was named Azalea, as Natalie had promised me. I was to kill them too. I was assigned to take them out. There was no room for failure, or so they said. It was easy. Get there, kill them, get out. I remember crying after hearing the briefing. A week later we left.

I remember exactly what happened. I still recall exactly what it looked like. The y were getting home from a night out. The man was holding young Azalea on his shoulders, and Natalie was carrying Chrysanthemum. She went first. When Natalie finally noticed that little Chrys wasn't moving, she screamed. That's when Azalea went. Her little body, falling over her father's head. He screamed too. 

It didn't take long after that. He fell soon, blood staining the cobblestones where his dead daughter was lying. Natalie turned, her face tearstained, and saw me. Her mouth fell open, and she fell. Nobody but me knew her last words. We left then, and I didn't even notice the tears streaming down my face until I was told of it by a random sergeant. 

I fell into my bed that night, and cried more. As I fell asleep, I couldn't help but think of her. My best friend, killed, by my own hand. That night I had a nightmare. I was shooting her over and over, without end. The last words I remembered, that she said, repeating as if on a loop.

“You promised.”

End Of Flashback~~~

I snapped back to the present, just as the sparks fell out of the sky. I felt horrible. I now knew what I'd meant when the note was talking about emotional hurt. I was a monster. I couldn't even reassure myself, since with the memories, came a price. His words came back to me.

“I'll let you go, free of your memories. But on one condition. If by any chance you remember, you'll have to come back to us.”

I flinched, and immediately felt terrified. I started to panic, and Cary looked at me. I noticed his arm around me, and felt embarrassed, but was too unnerved to blush. He started to pull away, and I grabbed his arm, not wanting to feel alone. He looked at me, concerned, and I heard myself whisper, “Please.”

His eyes widened, and he pulled away. He started walking down the hill, and in disbelief, I cried out to him. He smiled at me. “I'm not leaving. I'm just setting up another one. I know you'll like it.”

I bit my lip, and after lighting the fuse, he ran back to me. I put my head on his shoulder, and the fireworks went off. I cringed inside, and had to bite the inside of my cheek to stop myself from crying. I watched the fireworks fall, and my eyes widened as they saw my name in the falling sparks. Tears welled up, and I looked at him. I tried to say something, anything, but the words just wouldn't leave my tongue. Giving up, I threw my arms around him, and started to sob, letting all my pain and frustration come out in the form of tears and unintelligible words. The last sob left, and I looked at him. He smiled at me, and I finally got something out of my mouth. “Thank you.”

We stared at each other, and suddenly, he was kissing me. I knew I shouldn't. I wasn't right for hm. I was a monster. But my heart rose above all those complaints, and just took control of me. I threw my arms around him, and kissed him back.

His hands tangled in my hair, and I held him even tighter. His lips tasted like candy and I could smell fire on him. I don't remember how long we kissed, only that by the time we broke apart, I had forgotten what breathing was like, and that I had realized that I'd finally found something to live for.

We looked at each other, our faces red. I turned away, but Cary took my hand. “Azalea?”

I blushed, and looked into his eyes, flaming with determination. He took a deep breath. “Azalea. I think I...”

“Cary you don-”

He cut me off. “Yes. I do. I.... Oh, what the hell. I think I'm in love with you.”

I gasped, and he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “You don't have to say anything, I know you probably don't feel the same way...”

I looked at him like he was crazy. “What the hell are you on? I just made out with you, and you don't think I like you back? Are you fucking delusional?”

He blushed. “You like me?”

I laughed. “No!”

He looked at me confusedly. “What?”

“I don't like you. Because... I think I love you too.”

His face lit up in a grin, and he pulled me into a hug. I laughed, as he spun me around. “What did you think I meant?”

He smiled sheepishly. “I thought it was a friends with benefits thing!”

I shook my head. “Wow...”

He took my hands. “So, you really love me?”

I just nodded, and he kissed me again. We broke apart, and he looked at me hopefully. “Then will you go out with me?”

I smiled. “I thought you'd never ask.”

He laughed, carefree. “I'd kiss you again, but I'm still dizzy.”

We hugged again. “Oh god, I wish I could stay here forever, but I have parents. You're lucky yours are out of town.”

I shrugged, thinking of my parents, and suddenly my mood darkened. “You don't know what you're missing.” 

He looked at me, confused. “What?”

I smiled at him. “Nothing.”

He kissed me on the cheek, and grabbed his backpack. “See you tomorrow?”

I smiled. “Yeah...”

He grinned, and ran off. I smiled to myself, and started walking back to my house. I absently wondered if the party was over, and touched my cheek, where Cary had kissed me goodnight. I saw the girl from the party earlier, Jess. Remembering her, I took a step back. “Oh God.”

She looked up, and smiled grimly. “Hey Azalea.”

“H-hi.”

“I can see you remember me.”

My eyes widened. “Please leave me alone!”

She nodded to someone behind me, and I felt a tissue cover my nose and mouth. I suddenly felt dizzy, and I started to fall. I looked up at Jessika, who was looking at me sadly. I tried to beg, but couldn't move my lips. She shook her head, her lips moving in the last sentence that I heard before I passed out. 

“Sorry sis. Can't do that. Time to come home now.”


	15. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YES LAST CHAPTER

~*~Fireworks~*~  
~*~Epilogue~*~

ONE WEEK LATER

CARY POV:

Joe ran his fingers through his hair. “I just don't get it! You said she was fine when you left! Did you forget something?”

I scoffed, irritated. “No! I'm not leaving out anything! Why can't you just believe me?”

He walked up and glared at me. “You were the last one to see her! If you're leaving anything out, then we'll never find her!”

I glared back at him, and screamed, “I'm not leaving anything out! Dammit Joe, if I knew something, I would've told you!”

Nichole pushed us apart, and glared at both of us. “Ok, we get it. Joe, we know that you want to find her, but that doesn't mean Cary's leaving anything out. And Cary, I'm sorry that you're stressed, but please try and stay calm.”

I sighed. “I'm trying, but I can't help but act like this! What if I did something!”

Alice put her hand on my shoulder. “Cary... If you'd done something, she wouldn't have left! I mean, she'd still be here!”

A broken sob left me. “Then she's kidnapped, or dead! Great, that's so much better!”

Martin sighed. “She's probably not dead...”

“Then she's kidnapped. Still not exactly what I was hoping for.”

Charles came up. “It'll be cool, dude. We'll find her.”

I smiled slightly, and he continued. “And when we do, this'll be mint for a movie!”

I swung at him, and he dodged, waving his camera teasingly at me. “Production value!”

We all laughed, and Nichole smiled at me. “But seriously, we'll find her.”

I looked down. “I hope we do.”

AZALEA POV:

I woke up tied to a chair in a big metal room. I shook my head, and a door opened. Jess walked in and pulled a chair from behind me, swinging it around and sitting in it backwards. “So, how's it going.”

“Not very well, considering that I'm tied to a chair and haven't received any type of nourishment whatsoever since I woke up from my drug induced sleep.”

She stuck her tongue out at me. “No need to be snarky.”

I looked at her weirdly. “I am hungry, tired, dizzy, and drugged. I have a right.”

She opened her mouth, and the door opened behind her. A man strode in, and Jess stood up, saluting. He waved her off, and sat down in the chair, turning it around. Honestly, sit like a lady for once Jessika!”

She blushed. “I'm sorry, Colonel Nelec.”

“Whatever.” 

I looked at her amusedly, and Nelec spoke to me. “Well, I was afraid that this would happen.”

I gave him a withering look. “What?”

“You seem to have retreated into a rather irritating persona. Absolutely no trace of the respectful little girl that I used to know. What happened to her?”

I smirked. “She grew up.”

He looked at me and spoke in a condescending tone. “What would your mother say.”

“Nothing, she's dead. I'd expect you of all people to know that, sir.” I said the last word in a sarcastic tone, and was rewarded with an irritated scoff.

Suddenly, I felt a slap across my face, and I looked at the man in shock. He sneered. “Don't you ever speak to me like that, you little brat.”

I glared at him, and he narrowed his eyes. “And call me my proper title.”

I spat blood onto the floor, and curled my lip. “Fine, daddy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I sincerely apologize for you having to endure that hell of a story.
> 
> I am so fricking embarrassed about this.


End file.
